
Glass p £. 1 3 1 



Book 



l>77 



IT tlftr 



LETTERS 



THE WEST INDIES, 

DURING A VISIT 

IN 

THE AUTUMN OF MDCCCXXXVI, 

AND THE 

SPRING OF MDCCCXXXVII; 

BY 

WILLIAM LLOYD, M.D. 



'* Every thing being ready, the whole party embarked, about the setting 
of the Pleiades, or seven stars, according to Aiustobulus ; that is, about the 
end of October." 



[ One glance of wonder, as we pass, deserve 
The Books of Time. Productive was the world 
In many things, but most in books. " . 



Rollin. 



POLLOK. 



LONDON: 

DARTON AND HARVEY, GRACECHURCH-STREET. 

BIRMINGHAM: B. HUDSON. 






) L S 7 L, 
01 





£ 



f 



PREFACE 



Having accompanied my friends, Joseph Sturge, 
Thomas Harvey, and John Scoble, on a visit to the 
West Indies, the Letters, now presented to the public, 
performed the office of a Journal ; those circumstances, 
and incidents which I thought would interest my friends, 
were forwarded to them, through this medium. I made 
no search after afflictions and distresses, either to promote 
or substantiate any particular object : my mind was 
unprejudiced, rather inclining to hope that the state of 
things in the West Indies, might be better than had 
been represented, as occurring under the momentous 
experiment of the Apprenticeship system. I attended 
but few of the Special Magistrates' Courts : they were so 
rife with contrarieties, discrepancies, persecutions, and 
. animosities, my mind came to the conclusion, that men 
who could be governed by the apprenticeship Jaws, could 
be governed by the laws of free men; and fully adopted 
Dr. Maddens sentiment ; " my opinion is, that the ne- 
gro s are qualified for complete and immediate freedom." 



IV PREFACE. 

On my arrival at New York, I was unwilling to leave 
the United States, without becoming a little acquainted with 
them ; accordingly I deferred my return to England up- 
wards of eleven months, and landed at Liverpool very 
recently. The West Indies in 1837, by Sturge and 
Harvey, had been sent out to me, and I had much satisfac- 
tion in perusing their work. On returning home, I found 
that the public had welcomed it with great interest ; and 
that the circle of my acquaintance was willing, and many 
of them desirous, to read more on the same subject ; and as 
my friends' book could not refer to Demerara, from their 
not having been there ; it was natural to think some infor- 
mation from that Colony, would prove interesting. I had 
however, no manuscript in my possession ; but the letters 
which I had forwarded, had been carefully preserved, and 
all had come safe to hand. These then, I have revised 
and improved, with the assistance of my memory. How- 
ever imperfect they may be, they will, at least, serve as 
a memento of my visit; and the publication affords me the 
opportunity of introducing a few Prints from my sketches, 
which may at least claim the credit of being tolerablv 
correct representations. It is with pleasure I make the 
acknowledgement, of having taken several of my statistical 
remarks from R. Montgomery Martin's interesting and 
lucid history of the West Indies. Many doubtless are the 
faults and imperfections in this little publication; and should 



PREFACE. V 

these be pointed out to me, in a spirit of kindness, that 
kindness shall be felt and acknowledged ; but should the 
critics' darts fall thick and envenomed upon me, the re- 
membrance of the following sentiment and accompanying 
advice, may enable me to sustain them. 

" Severe ourselves, at last our works appear, 
When ah ! we find our readers more severe." 

"jEquam memento rebus in arduis servare meniem.*' 



DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING PLATES, et cet. 



Map to face the Title Page. 

Page 19. 
Entrance to Dernerara River ; the Building on the extreme left is the 
back of Camp House, the Governor's residence. 

Page 28. 
London Missionary Society's Chapel— Boys' School Room— and Minister's 
Residence over it, George Town ; also, London Missionary Society's Chapel, 
and Infant School Room ; this is a side view of the same Chapel, one en- 
trance to which is represented in the previous plate. 

Page 32. 
Public Buildings, George Town— Dernerara. 

Page 46." 
Main Street, South Cuminsburg, George Town. 

Page 56. 
Residences in South Cuminsburg, George Town. 

Page 68. 
New Amsterdam — Crab Island — and Berbice River ; the Public Build- 
ings of Berbice are exhibited in this Print. 

Page 80. 
New Amsterdam looking up Berbice River; the houses stand so far 
back, it was impossible to sketch more than one without being opposite to 
them. 

Page 136.. 

The Town, Harbour, and Island of St. Thomas. The elevated building like 
a Church to the right, was formerly the residence of a Buccaneer, named 
Blue Beard; this drawing was taken too hastily for the whole of the Town 
to be correctly sketched. 

Page 170. 

Baptist Missionary Station at Yallahs ; the service was performed in the 
Cottage to the right, previous to the erection of the New Chapel— the New 
School nousc is behind the centre tree. 

Page 184. 
Chapel on the Bclvidero Estate, built by the Apprentices. 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER I. 

Embark at Falmouth — Extracts from Sea Journal — Arrival 
at Barbadoes. ~~~«.~~~-..»~ r ''~. Page 1. 

LETTER II. 

Remarks on Barbadoes — Visit to the House of Assembly 
and Gaol. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page 10. 

LETTER III. 

Departure for Demerara — Arrival there. ~ ~ Page 19. 

LETTER IV. 

Description of George Town — Elucidations of the Apprent- 
iceship System. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Page 32. 

LETTER V. 

Observations on Missionary Services — And on a Sugar 
Estate.~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page 46. 

* LETTER VI. 
Visit to New Amsterdam Berbice River — Occurrences there. 

Page 61. 

LETTER VII. 

Continuation of Proceedings at New Amsterdam — W. 
Lloyd leaves J. Scoble to pursue his Investigations — Sails for 
George Town and Barbadoes. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 80. 

LETTER VIII. 

Incidents at Barbadoes — Proceeds in the Northern Mail 
Boat to St. Thomas's — Arrival there — Sails for Santa Cruz, 

Page 101. 

LETTER IX. 

Description of Santa Cruz— Allusions to American Inva- 
lids. ~~~_~~~~~~~~~~ Page 120. 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

LETTER X. 

Leaves Santa Cruz for St. Thomas's — St. Thomas for Ja- 
maica — Pleasant Voyage — Meets his friends Joseph Sturge 
and Thomas Harvey in Kingston. - - - ~ - Page 137. 

LETTER XI. 

Various Occurrences during a few days tarriance at 
Kingston. ------------ Page 155. 

LETTER XII. 

Accompanies T. H. on a visit to St. Thomas in the East, 
et cet. ------------- Page 171. 

LETTER XIII. 

Continuation of the Journey — Various Incidents— Return to 
Kingston. ------------ Page 191. 

LETTER XIV. 

Excursion into the Port Royal Mountains — also to Spanish 
Town and Sligo Ville. --------- Page 215. 

LETTER XV. 

Embarks from Jamaica — Arrival at New York, with Re- 
marks thereon. ----------- Page 238. 

Appendix. --------- Page 2J!jl to 263. i 



ERRATA. 



Page 11, line 14, read four-and-a- half. 

Page 16, line 11, omit as. 

Page 32, line 5, for torough read thorough. 

Page 33, line 13, for 66" read 6° 10 V - 

Page 33, line 16, omit and. 

Page 84, last line, for their accord, read their own accord. 

Page 114, last line, for embark, read disembark. 

Page 150, line 12, for by the, read for the. 

Page 224, line 14, for twenty feet, read twenty feet high. 

Page 238, line 3, for debarked, read embarked. 



LETTER I. 



Barbadoes, llth. Month, 13tfi., 183G, 
My Dear F- r. 

We landed here after a favourable voyage of 
twenty-six days, having passed the Nightingale 
Mail packet, which left Falmouth a fortnight 
before us. In order that thou mayest picture 
our embarkation and debarkation, I will copy 
for thy perusal from my sea journal the first and 
two last dates. 

10 th. Month, llth. 
At a quarter to twelve, a. m. we left the har- 
bour of Falmouth, on board the Mail Barque, 
Skylark, Captain Lieut. Ladd, bound to Bar- 
badoes. Our party were Joseph Sturge and 
myself, of Birmingham ; John Scoble, of Lon- 
don, and Thomas Harvey, of Barnsley. We 
were accompanied to the ship by my brother-in- 
law, Alfred Fox, John Sturge, and Barclay 
Fox. The demand of the boatmen was half a 
guinea each, an excessive charge, allowed by 
the rules of the port. We had been on board 
two hours, when our Captain arrived in his cocked 
hat and uniform with the Mails : w T e had occu- 
pied the time in making acquaintance with the 

B 



2 LETTERS FROM 

ship, and I cannot say our first ascent upon 
deck; and descent into the cabin were gratifying ; 
lie bulwarks were forbiddingly high, the deck 
was wet, the top of the cabin lights was covered 
with meat in its recently slaughtered state ; joints 
being also hung around in various parts of the 
vessel, interspersed with cauliflowers, cabbages, 
and turnips, an abundant provision, but unpleasant 
to the sight, as we were already squeamish from 
the rolling of the ship, though at anchor. In 
the cabin it was impossible to stand upright from 
the low ceiling : there were berths only for twelve, 
whereas there were fifteen gentlemen and three 
ladies. The quarter deck was level with the 
main deck, and no view over the bulwarks except 
by mounting on the gangways, or on the poop, 
which having no defence at the sides was evi- 
dently not intended for much perambulation ; 
the whole had a prison like effect. We learnt 
that our Skylark was an old ten gun barque, 
a kind of vessel disliked by all navigators for 
its inconvenience ; there are now but few in 
the service, and I believe the new Mail packets 
are elegant and convenient. We set to work 
getting our moveables placed into our berths, 
and made light of petty inconveniences. We 
cordially bid our friends adieu ; they returned in 
the boat, and the hoisting of sail began : our 
sailing master took his station upon the poop, 
and gave his orders with the utmost volubility ; 
which, conjoined with the ready willingness and 



THE WEST INDIES. 6 

alertness of the crew, gave the impression that 
master and man were fully competent to the 
working of the ship ; the sails being set and the 
wind favourable, we quickly left St. Mawes and 
Pendennis castles frowning on either hand, and 
reached the open sea. The sun broke out, and 
we could descry every well known object with 
the greatest ease ; it was an hour of sombre en- 
joyment, in which the light despondency of 
leaving home, was mingled with a thought of 
thankfulness at having many favourable auspices 
inviting us onward. Pendennis castle and Wode- 
house-place faded from our view ; then the light 
houses at the Land's End : the motion of the 
vessel increased ; we took no notice either of the 
dinner or tea bell, and ere the evening came, 
were all ill and prostrate in our berths. 

llth. Month, 12th. 

We have now been at sea rather more than 
three weeks, and yesterday evening our sailing 
master informed us we should see land this morn- 
ing by eight o'clock. I rose early not being able 
to sleep from the excessive heat, and witnessed 
a beautiful sun-rise. Both the rising and setting 
of the sun are more mellowed than in England, 
the colours change more rapidly ; and before the 
rays are quite extinct in the west, the stars are 
visible ; the duration of twilight not being more 
than twenty minutes ; at least after that lapse of 
time one cannot read a book. 

At eight o'clock " Land O," was shouted from 



4 LETTERS FROM 

the mast head, and after breakfast it was visible 
from the deck 3 which proved the truth of the 
master's reckoning, and he had praise from all at 
being so successful in his land fall. The sight 
was cheering', and occasioned great bustle, as we 
expected to land ; but the breeze dying away We 
soon saw we should be disappointed. 

The coast though not mountainous, was elevated 
and picturesque, as we looked upon the hilly part 
of the island called Scotland. The heat was 
oppressive, being 85° in our cabin : ' and we 
have suffered most by night, owing to the number 
of passengers. During the day the awning pro- 
tects from the sun, but our nights are sad, from 
the sky-lights being closed 3 the passengers who 
sleep on the table, on the benches, and on the 
floor, are afraid of cold from the night air ; we in 
our berths are therefore melted, and by morning 
really gasping for breath. No Captain should 
take more passengers than he can comfortably 
accommodate, and especially through the tropics, 
where it becomes a most serious inconvenience. 
Our party appeared to suffer less than the West 
Indians, which I attributed to our Temperance 
habits : they who had drunk wine daily, com- 
plained of head ache and other feverish symptoms. 
On the whole we have had a pleasant voyage, 
though our Captain quarrelled three successive 
days with his sailing Master, who was at last 
put in arrest, and we had to beg him off from a 
Court Martial, 



THE WEST INDIES. O 

On entering the tropics, Neptune paid his 
usual visit, to demand his tribute for the enrol- 
ment of his new children and to shave poor sailor 
boys ; and it was a day of much hilarity for the 
crew. Neptune is a cunning deity, his dominion 
extends twenty- five degrees on each side of the 
line ; and entering the tropics does not make his 
children wholly free, as when they cross the line 
they must pay again. 

13th. Yesterday wore away, and afforded us 
considerable pleasure in approaching the land ; 
but the breeze dying away, we soon gave up the 
idea of landing by day light. We had a lunch 
yesterday and to-day, instead of regular dinners, 
by which means we escaped earlier from the hot 
cabin. It is a trial to be long at dinner when one 
is panting for breath : the right plan would be 
to dine off one dish, and then away; whereas we 
have soup, — then a wait for fish, — then a long 
wait for a course of meat, — then a tedious wait 
for a course of pastry, — then a tiresome wait for 
the dessert ; and long before that is finished, we 
are wiping our foreheads : in fact the greater part 
of our company have left the table the last few 
days before the dinner was over. There is some 
temptation to eat and drink too much at sea ; we 
have coffee at six a.m.; breakfast at eight ; lunch 
at twelve ; dinner at four ; coffee immediately 
after ; tea at seven ; and supper at nine : happily 
however there is no compulsion to partake of all, 

To-day we watched the land till sun- set, and 



6 LETTERS FROM 

having a young moon, it aided us to observe our 
progress, and to see our course, for there is no 
light house on the south point of the Island 
round which we had to turn for Carlisle Bay, and 
into which we entered and cast anchor at half-past 
ten, p. m. A shout of congratulation escaped 
from our company, when the cessasion of noise 
proved the anchor had found its rest, and much 
bustle ensued. Some would go ashore that in- 
stant ; Captain Ladd, with his cocked hat and 
sword, hastened to pay his devoirs, as in duty 
bound, to his superior officer, the Captain of the 
Belvidere Frigate, then in the harbour, and which 
had been stationed there for some months. The 
rest of us turned into our ovens for the last 
stewing, endeavouring to woo a little hot sleep : 
this was soon disturbed by our Captain's return, 
who brought word that a fever was raging at 
Bridge Town ; and this at once deranged our plan, 
as Joseph Sturge quickly decided it would be 
best not to stay in Barbadoes. This morning I 
rose early, the dawn commenced, and I gazed 
with vivid interest upon the first tropical shore I 
had ever beheld. I soon discovered the cabbage 
tree, (Palma Altissima) and cocoa nut, (Cocos Nu- 
cifera.) The richness of their green huge pen- 
dent leaves burst upon my sight; every thing 
had a foreign aspect ; and our introduction into 
a southern clime was at once evident. 

The purple azure of sun- rise was again glori- 
ous , the evidence of Negro inhabitants was before 



THE WEST INDIES. 7 

us ; boats came from two different hotels with 
black rowers, each with a Negro woman as steerer, 
to deliver their cards of recommendation. The 
women came on board and politely invited us to 
the shore. We had previously made up our 
minds to go to one of the most retired, and 
therefore took the cards of H. Lewis, who had been 
recommended as very respectable, and her house 
being upon the shore made it desirable. We were 
now about to reach the shore, and had for a length 
of time the evening before endeavoured to discern 
it, but the moon set, and except a few solitary 
lights, we saw nothing of the land when the an- 
chor was let go ; but we had been much pleased 
with the phosphorescence of the ocean during the 
heaving of the lead, which had been kept going 
all the evening; a circle of light marked the place 
where it fell, and when the lead was pulled up, 
there was a line of glowing light followed the 
line as it cut through the water : we had also a 
few days earlier, the opportunity of seeing a flying 
fish which came on board. The sea was now 
behind, and the land drew us with strong at- 
tractions ; and after the adieus, good wishes, et 
ceteras, of a large party breaking up, we set off 
with four black rowers, and our Negro woman to 
steer us. We soon landed, and reached the inn 
about nine. 

How new every thing appeared ! the jet black 
of the Negros contrasted strangely with the gay 
livery of the vegetation in a tropical climate. The 



8 LETTERS FROM 

houses are low in Bridge Town ; many windows 
are without glass, but with jalousies to exclude 
the sun ; there are no chimneys, and the houses 
are covered with shingles, about the size of tiles. 
By this time the sun was again hot ; we heard 
alarming accounts of the fever, but could not 
think much about it, amidst so many novelties. 
The inn had an untidy appearance ; no floor or 
stair carpets, unpapered rooms, and very common 
furniture ; however we made ourselves at home, 
and as it was the Sabbath day, we went in the 
evening to the Methodist Chapel : a more orderly 
congregation I never saw ; some were Creoles, fair 
as Europeans, others black in white dresses ; the 
singing was louder than in England, from the 
very powerful voices of the Negros. After the 
meeting, we were introduced to the Minister, 
with whom we had some interesting conversation. 
14th. Before breakfast, we rode a few miles into 
the country, and called upon a Moravian Minister, 
who gave a melancholy account of the fatality 
amongst children under the new laws, partly from 
an epidemic, the measles, but chiefly from the 
mothers being forced away from their infant 
charge to work in the cane fields ; he had an 
infant school under his care, and it was pleasing 
to see some children sitting upon the steps, 
though the school would not open for an hour. 
From this Missionary station there is a fine view 
of Carlisle Bay, Bridge Town, and the surrounding 
country. We were much interested in the cane 



THE WEST INDIES. 9 

fields ; they had now thrown up their flowering 
stems, and would be ready to cut next month : 
the canes stood so thick and close we could not 
see far into the fields, and were upwards of six 
feet high. We saw several gangs at work ; and 
patiently and steadily they appeared to use their 
hoes ; one could not help pitying them, knowing 
it was forced labour. The Negro huts we saw 
were very mean, much like Irish cabins, but 
larger, and with a loose overhanging thatch. A 
stranger here soon witnesses the civility and be- 
coming behaviour of the Negros, and then wonders 
how the Whites have had resolution to be Slave- 
holders. We were told that the Slaves were 
grateful for the freedom of their children, and 
there has not been an instance of the parents' 
binding them apprentices. 

The Island is at this time green, but has a naked 
appearance, from having no woods, the tropical 
trees being isolated. I am somewhat incom- 
moded by the heat, but there is much that is ani- 
mating in a tropical climate, and the respect from 
the Negros, and their inoffensive behaviour, make 
us feel perfectly at home, as regards safety. I had 
rather have one hundred Slaves round me than be 
in the company of one overbearing Planter. 

I remain, &c 



10 LETTERS FROM 



LETTER II. 

Barbadoes, 11th Month, 16th, 1836. 

My Dear F— — R. 

Our party lately crowded and inconveni- 
enced on board the Skylark packet, has now 
finally separated, each to pursue their respec- 
tive objects. We had for companions during 
our voyage, three gentlemen from Trinidad, two 
from St. Thomas, one from St. Vincent, another 
from Jamaica, and from Barbadoes a physician 
of some eminence. They soon became acquainted 
with our views and motives, and we heard much 
in their conversation to interest us ; and not- 
withstanding dissatisfaction expressed at the 
change of events, it was evident that their 
pockets had been comfortably assisted by the 
compensation money, and that estates and pro- 
perty in general were rapidly advancing in value. 
According to our new arrangement, J. S coble 
and myself proceed to Demarara ; and J. Sturge 
and T. Harvey are now on their way to Antigua, 
having embarked in the Mail boat on the 14th. 
There are four or five of these Mail boats which 
start the day after the arrival of the Falmouth 



THE WEST INDIES. * 11 

packet for the different Islands ; and the steam- 
boat for Jamaica sails on the day of arrival ; in 
this way letters are quickly forwarded to their 
destination, and passengers to their respective 
homes. 

Barbadoes is twenty-one miles long by fourteen 
broad, and is interesting from its being the oldest 
British Colony. The English took possession of 
it in 1605 ; there were no inhabitants, having 
been deserted, as is supposed, by the Caribs. In 
1627 it was patented by Charles I. to the Earl of 
Carlisle : this patent was afterwards surrendered 
by the Earl of Kinnaird, heir to the Carlisle 
charter, on a payment to him of four-and-a- 
per cent, duty on all exports: the duty still 
continues, and is a great annoyance to the 
Planters. It is now in possession of the Crown; 
and from the high state of cultivation of the 
Island and valuable exports, realizes a large Sum. 
I cannot speak as to its expenditure, though I 
believe the Governor's salary is paid out of it. 

A Scotch brig, the Harmony^ having called 
at Bridge Town on its way to Demarara, there 
was no necessity for our hurrying away by the 
Mail boat, and it has enabled J. Scoble and 
myself to become a little acquainted with the 
town. 

The population of Bridge Town is said to be 
30,000, that of the whole Island 115,709; thus 
divided, 82,807 apprentices, 20,105 free coloured, 
12,797 whites. The Island is known to be more 



12 LETTERS FROM 

thickly peopled than even the " Celestial Em- 
pire;''' yet, owing to its systematic culture, it is 
enabled to support its inhabitants and export to a 
large amount. 

All strangers on their arrival are expected to 
pay their respects to the Governor, and if not at 
home, they enter their names in a book kept for 
the purpose. The present Governor is Sir Evan 
John Murray M'Gregor, who succeeded Sir 
Lionel Smith : his Governorship includes Bar- 
badoes, Grenada, St. Vincent's, and Tobago. 
We embraced an early opportunity, and rode 
up to Pilgrim House, but had not the satis- 
faction of seeing the Governor ; the house stands 
pleasantly in a park, on an eminence, one mile 
from the town ; and owing to late rains, the tro- 
pical shrubs were luxuriant in their foliage, and 
the grounds were very ornamental. It was pleas- 
ing to see, under so hot a sun, the vegetation 
unfaded and green ; and as the cane fields were 
uncut, the scenery was in perfection. I observe 
little difference as to temperature in the tropics ; 
the range of the thermometer being between 74° 
and 860 at the present season ;* but the periodical 
rains divide the months into wet and dry; the 
principal rains fall in the 7th, 8th and 9th months, 
after which the canes rapidly advance to perfec- 
tion ; the harvest commencing in the 12th month, 

* This temperature does not apply to the mountains in 
Jamaica, &c. It. M. Martin gives a greater range from 
72° to fJ0°. I was not there in the hottest months. 



THE WEST INDIES. 13 

and continuing for several in succession. During 
the harvest months there are also some showers, 
which enable the young cane plants to strike root. 
Each plant is two or three joints off the top of 
the ripe cane. They are planted in rows, the 
plants very near each other, but the rows nearly 
two feet apart, to admit of hoeing and cleaning. 
The thick ripe cane must be planted when there 
are not sufficient tops, and hence a reduction of 
the produce of sugar on an estate. 

We afterwards visited the House of Assembly, 
which commenced its sittings this week. The 
Council consists of twelve ; the House of Assem- 
bly of twenty-two Members ; but twelve form a 
quorum. It was advertised to meet at ten A. m. 
As no Members had arrived at that hour we em- 
ployed ourselves in looking at the gaol, the 
wards of which are under the Assembly House: 
as J. S. intends to transmit particular details, I 
shall not fully describe the horrors of this barba- 
rous prison. The wards formed the basement of 
the building on each side ; a passage running from 
end to end, and one was devoted to men prisoners 
waiting their trial. The door was unlocked for us, 
and we went in. They were much crowded, and 
had no accommodation for the night, except a stone 
seat, which extended round the room three feet in 
height ; and here they might remain for months, 
from not being brought to the bar ; or their trials 
being delayed for want of witnesses, several 
months elapsing between the meetings of the 



14 LETTERS FROM 

Assize Court. Those who had been tried were 
at the tread wheel, or in the yard, breaking 
stones. The task seemed heavy, thirty baskets 
per day, with only an abatement of four for 
women. This stone breaking was a subject of 
controversy in the papers, and no wonder, for 
the stones were described as being hard and re- 
fractory, and the hammers as soft : and their night 
accommodation was the same, crowded together, 
with nothing to sit or lie on but the stone bench 
or floor. There was one apartment for the men, 
and one for the women ; that for the men was 
about twenty feet by twenty-five, and into this 
confined hole, a large number of human beings 
were crowded every night. We saw the dinner 
for those in the untried ward served up; it ap- 
peared to be simple yam, without salt fish or 
meat. The women are treated in a similar man- 
ner, in a similar darksome room. 

We walked over to the tread wheel on one side 
of the yard, and saw it in full operation ; it was 
literally a breaking on the wheel. Men were 
stationed above, holding the womens' arms over a 
bar : several lost the step, and were catted on 
their naked backs and legs, but being too weak 
could not regain the wheel, and dangled ; their 
shins were broken by its revolution ; blood be- 
sprinkled the steps ; and when the ten minutes 
spell was up, and their arms were loosed, two in 
particular dropt as if shot: they were insensible 
for awhile to the call of the driver, and when able 



THE WEST INDIES. 15 

to crawl to their resting shed, they again lay 
down moaning in agony. I examined the arm of 
one of them, and found it much bruised by the 
rail ; the whole scene was so shocking, that I 
could scarcely credit what I had witnessed. One 
party being off, another of men or women is put 
on, and so the wheel goes round from morn to 
night, and without any profitable return ; for there 
is no machinery attached to it. This outrage on 
humanity was in sight from the House of As- 
sembly where the legislators were assembling. 
At a quarter to one, sufficient were present to 
form a house. A long Police Act was read and 
passed, (nemine contradicente ;) not one obser- 
vation was made upon it, it was a burlesque on 
legislation, for the Bill comprised matters of 
great moment to the Negros ; but the scenes 
which were transacting close by, were no bur- 
lesque on human suffering. We left, convinced 
that the friends of the Negro need not be afraid of 
doing too much. As yet I had seen nothing in 
the system of Apprenticeship which would bear 
the light of investigation. We have had some 
opportunity of observing the Negro's character, 
and see nothing to warrant the assertion, that he 
is idle and lazy, and requires compulsion and 
cruelty to make him labour. I have never seen 
greater activity than on the wharfs here ; and the 
competition to hire their services reminds one 
of the Thames watermen. The Negro features 
are to me disagreeable, and their " talke, talke," 



16 LETTERS FROM 

a most unintelligible lingo ; yet their behaviour 
is most orderly and respectful, free from imperti- 
nence or begging, and if they were whites, their 
respectful behaviour would become a theme for 
praise. They have a risible propensity; and on 
looking at them, they frequently return it with a 
smile : how preferable this is to the tiresome 
clamour of European beggars. I have walked 
through the town, and about the outskirts, and 
there is much less to annoy than in many of our 
public streets. The back streets here are as much 
superior to the liberties of Dublin, having an 
appearance of cleanliness and neatness. 

The Apprenticeship is yet adding another 
proof of the patience of the Negro, of the un- 
christian nature of Slavery, and of the cruelty 
of the whole system, from the ceaseless perse- 
cutions of the poor Blacks, whilst they remain 
in the power of others. 

My attention has been drawn to the stillness of 
a tropical noon- day, and to the rising music of 
the evening. One can see nothing, yet every 
step, when walking out about sun-set/ seems to 
be in the midst of chirping crickets and other 
insects ; it is a concert of invisibles, welcoming 
the coolness and darkness of the night, and 
almost loud enough to interrupt conversation ; 
this is quite a contrast to the cawing rooks and 
screaming jays of an English noon, and the 
peaceful stillness of rural evening scenes in Eng- 
land. We have been introduced by Lieut. La.dd 



THE WEST INDIES. 17 

to J. Prescod, at present editor of the New 
Times, a liberal paper ; he is a coloured * gentle- 
man, liberally educated, and resides at the edge 
of the town, in an elegant cottage. He gave us 
much interesting information, dwelling forcibly 
on the disabilities of the free coloured inhabitants 
of Bridge Town.f We thought we had seldom 
met with more refinement and intelligence ; he is 
happily married, has no distinguishing marks of 
negro complexion, and in England he would be 
esteemed as a gentleman, whilst in Barbadoes he 
is in some degree despised as a coloured man. 

Our waiter at the hotel possesses considerable 
information ; he is a married man, and his mis- 
tress allows him a certain sum per week to main- 
tain his wife and family. He mentioned to us an 
imposition which had been practised on domestics, 
thus ; their owners finding that emancipation must 
take place, from the tenour of the news from Eng- 
land, thought, in addition to the compensation 
money, they could obtain more from their slaves ; 
so they told them that freedom was very uncertain, 
that the bill might be thrown out, but if they 
would pay so much every year for four years, 
they should be free : this they complied with, and 
so were purchasing their freedom ; whereas they 

* The word colour is applied to all African descendents, 
however remote. 

+ The qualification for coloured freeholders is freehold 
property, of the annual value of thirty pounds ; that for 
white electors, ten pounds. 
D 



18 LETTERS FROM 

would be free quite as soon by the Imperial Act 
of Parliament, which was shortly after sanctioned 
by the Island. I could scarcely credit that such 
mean ingenuity would be attempted, and have 
simply told it as it was related. Captain Ladd 
has been very attentive to us, and we have been 
able to take considerable exercise under the shade 
of umbrellas. The streets in Bridge Town are 
white sand, and the reflection of light so strong, it 
is difficult to open our eyes. One species of 
Cactus (Cactus opuntia) here is quite a weed, 
flourishing in every vacant corner. The stores 
are large and airy, and are protected from the sun 
by piazzas, which reach from the second floor to 
the roof; they extend over the foot ways, and 
being jalousied, admit the air freely, and form 
pleasant sitting compartments, and when neatly 
painted have a picturesque appearance. We 
hope to sail this evening for Demerara, and in 
the mean time, 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 19 



LETTER III. 

George Town, (Stdbroek) Demerara, llth Mo., 23rd, 1836. 

My Dear F r. 

As the Mail boat is about to return to Bar- 
badoes, I hasten to inform thee that we arrived 
here in safety, after a somewhat tedious sail of 
six days; the distance is about three hundred and 
fifty miles. We were five passengers, with a 
pleasant Captain 5 and there was luxury in having 
plenty of room. One of our company was a 
Planter from Antigua, on a visit to Demerara, 
with some intention of settling there. The fer- 
tility of the soil, and the flourishing state of the 
Colony, make it a point of attraction at the present 
time. Another was W .* * *, our fellow passen- 
ger, from Falmouth, who had been in Demerara 
before. His description of the place was " the 
land of mud and musquitoes ;" and of the large 
musquitoes, called Gaily Nippers, he told start- 
ling tales. There are several species, a small kind 
with black and white legs, infesting the houses, 
and the larger ones common to the woods. We 
were one Sabbath at sea, and though orderly and 
quietly spent, I could not but recur to those we 



20 LETTERS FROM 

had passed on board the Skylark packet 5 where, 
according to the rules of the British naval service, 
the crew, in clean dresses, are assembled on the 
quarter deck, flags are hung round to enclose it 
for a chapel, and the Captain then reads prayers, 
and a printed sermon. Lieutenant Ladd would 
not allow one of his men to be absent ; it must 
have a beneficial effect on the minds of the crew. 
They know there is a care extended to them ; 
whereas on most merchant vessels little attention 
is paid to their Sabbath appearance, as though 
wholly neglected by their Captain. 

One Sabbath, on the Skylark packet, we had 
a striking contrast. After the prayers, &c, the 
rules of war were read, and they ill assimilated 
to the peaceful precepts of the Gospel. It is the 
regulation of the service for these rules to be read 
once a month. 

At sea the attention is particularly awakened, 
and voyagers are always looking out for inci- 
dents, for ships, for changes in the heavens above, 
and seas beneath, for birds and fishes, &c, &c. : 
we had not many in this short passage. The 
tropical sea birds, (boobies,) so named from their 
habit of settling on the rigging, and allowing 
themselves to be caught, were frequently around 
us. One was taken in this manner, and was to 
be added to my collection, but it escaped in the 
night, and thus falsified its name. Land birds 
frequently rest on ships ; on coming out skylarks 
were caught on our vessel, several hundred miles 



the west indies. 21 

from the coast of Spain ; they were reduced to 
mere skeletons. Birds are blown off by the wind, 
and then are unable to regain the shore ; I have 
no doubt from this cause many perish in the sea. 
Our cook also caught three bonetos ; the bait was 
red rag on a hook. They are not unlike to 
salmon in their form. This fish is not esteemed, 
but we found them tolerably good eating. They 
do not swim in the wake of a vessel, but under 
the bows, as if to amuse themselves with the 
spray and uproar. But the most pleasing tropi- 
cal attendant was one of the large gaudy butter- 
flies, which visited us thirty miles from the shore ; 
its call was short, as if disliking our appearance, 
and as if in search of more flowery existences. 
We did not suffer from the heat, the thermome- 
ter being lower than at Bridge Town ; in our cabin 
it stood at 81°, and we are now seasoned to this. 
A black pilot met us at sea long before we 
saw land, for it is low and muddy ; the river is 
therefore difficult to enter. What we first ob- 
served was the sea becoming discoloured, then in 
the distance a low continuous line of green marking 
the beach, next the taller palms, as cocoa nuts and 
cabbage trees. In a short time this green shore 
extended far over the horizon, and became dis- 
tinct, with here and there a plantation house, and 
smoke ascending from the tall engine chimney, 
or from the boiling house : the appearance con- 
veys the idea of inexhaustible fertility, and has a 
character solely its own. We approached at 



22 LETTERS FROM 

noon, and the hot tropical sun, the cloudless 
skies around, the horizon of verdant green, and 
the sea muddy and discoloured, formed a picture 
not to be erased from memory. Our pilot was an 
old man, a Kroo, kidnapped when a boy. He 
said he was too old to care for being free ; and 
therefore content as an apprentice. He had been 
five days out waiting for a vessel. Here again 
was food for reflection. This poor despised 
Black, denounced as idle, dissolute, and incapa- 
ble of caring for his own person, is sent as a 
pilot to bring the rich merchantman into port ; 
nay, her Majesty's proudest Admiral, with his 
seventy- four first rate, would yield to his experi- 
ence, and for a time be subject to his direction ; 
and yet after skilfully conducting through a diffi- 
cult navigation a ship into port, the reward of 
that labour goes to a white man, who perhaps 
cannot take a boat across the stream.* After 
crossing the bar we quickly came to anchorage, 
opposite the lighthouse, at the mouth of the 
river ; vessels not being allowed to enter till 
visited by the Harbour Master. It was evidently 
a port of large commerce, for the wide river was 
crowded with ships ; we were not detained long, 



* As a proof that skill is requisite, we passed near 
to the wreck of a vessel ; the masts are alone visible. 
This ship some time before was leaving the port with a 
full cargo, and went down into the mud, and the naked 
masts now serve as a buoy to guard the unwary. Negros 
in the Colonies are of various tribes, as Mandingoes, Coro- 



THE WEST INDIES. 23 

and soon after accompanied the Captain in his 
gig to the shore. No sable apprentices from the 
hotels came off with their cards of invitation as at 
Bridge Town ; and this was accounted for by the 
fact, that though a town of 12,000* inhabi- 
tants, there is not an hotel in the place. I 
believe the Temperance Society cannot have the 
credit of this. The cause simply is, there has 
been no necessity; Planters who come to town 
from the country, have their agents, who hos- 
pitably entertain them ; others are accommodated 
by store keepers or residents to whom they may 
be introduced ; and two or three boarding houses 
have generally been sufficient to supply the wants 
of casual visitors. 

On nearing the wharf, the stores, we observed, 
were built upon piles, each having a wooden pier 
jutting into the river. These piers are called 
stellings, and have boat room at their sides. I 
thought of Venice, but drop the comparison, 
never having seen that ancient city, whose gorge- 
ous churches and magnificent palaces I imagine 
will never have their similitudes in " George 
Town, Demarara." On landing we walked to 

mantees, Why-daws, Eboes, Congas, and Angoloes. The 
Mandingoes have the most intelligence : many of them read 
Arabic, and are Mahomedans. The Coromantees are the 
most ferocious, and the Eboes the most timid and desponding 

* This includes the free coloured, and apprentices ; the 
whites did not number two thousand at the last census, ten 
years since. 



24 LETTERS FROM 

D- — - Thomas's boarding house, which had been 
recommended to us. She was not at home ; and 
we learned that her house was full, having some 
visitors from Berbice ; we made their acquaint- 
ance, and took some refreshment, and towards 
evening came off to our ship, where we took up 
our night's lodging. We found some difficulty in 
effecting this, and had to learn something of Co- 
lonial inconveniences ; for in this heritage of the 
Whites there are no boats to hire, Captains of 
vessels use their own, and the Negros, as yet 
have none to let out. We engaged a pilot boat; 
there was a barge, and another small boat at the 
stelling; the ebb tide was running very strong; 
some confusion arose as to who should take 
charge of the boat ; at this juncture the Captain's 
gig came by, and we were soon comfortably 
seated in the cabin of the Harmony. Our minds 
were depressed and thankful — depressed at wit- 
nessing a serious accident. A Negro had charge 
of the small boat, which became jammed between 
the barge and pilot boat ; the crush lifted it, and 
turned it on one side. The poor man in endea- 
vouring to escape, became wedged between the 
two boats across the middle of his body, and 
when released was unable to stand. We were 
thankful at escaping a night's exposure in the 
muddy bay ; for the Captain assured us we should 
not have made his ship ; there was no wind to 
fill a sail, and the pilot boat having no oars, the 
current would soon have swept us far down the 



THE WEST INDIES. 25 

river : and this appeared probable, as we thought 
we had not engaged the proper crew, but some 
men standing by, who wished the opportunity of 
making money. I was not able to trace the poor 
man, for next morning all the boats were gone \ 
the stelling was clear of people, and I knew not 
where to inquire. 

25th. We are not yet settled down ; but D. 
Thomas expecting daily to have beds at liberty* 
we have taken our meals at her table ; at which 
thpre are some conversible Planters, and making al- 
lowances for their peculiar opinions, I may say in- 
telligent. The conversations have been maintain- 
ed with spirit ; and yesterday evening, J. Scoble 
had a long energetic one with G. C, from Ber- 
bice, which was continued so late, we could not 
go to the Harmony ; this led to a slight adven- 
ture, our hostess having to contrive for us. She 
said she had let the adjoining house to a Catholic 
Priest; that he was gone from home, and we 
might be accommodated in his spare room, es- 
pecially as he was not expected back that night. 
We took possession of the spare bed, a poor 
couch without musquito curtains ; and instead of 
sleeping, had to buffet those teasing trumpeters. 
Unfortunately at midnight, the priest came home. 
We, the intruders, lay still, for there was only a 
thin partition between the two rooms. At length 
tired of silence and the musquitoes, some time in 
the night we began to talk, when the Priest 
heard us, jumped up, ran down stairs to his 

E 



26 LETTERS FROM 

man, called to know if his horse was safe, came 
to bed again, and again jumped up, stamping till 
the house shook ! Besides this there was occa- 
sionally heavy tropical rain on the shingles^ 
which sounded like falling bullets; and in the 
street there was the most discordant piercing 
yells and shoutings. When morning broke I 
arose, apologised to the priest, assuring him of 
our respectability. He was very glum ; said his 
landlady charged him £15 currency, per month, 
for his apartments, and then gave his bed away, 
and he could not submit to it. As D. T. is a 
Catholic, I doubted not the difference would 
easily be rectified; yes, more easily than our 
musquitoe bites : two of my fingers are much 
swollen, and my ankles so irritated, it is impossi- 
ble to help scratching. At breakfast time I 
learnt the uproar in the street, (if that may be 
so called, which has a water course in the middle, 
and high lank grass at the sides,) arose from a 
ball; and a ball, from the palmy days of Slavery, 
has been a time when the Negros might revel, 
as a set off to the hauteur usually observed to- 
wards them. They are at such a time almost 
upon an equality with their masters. They are 
allowed to go into the house, congregate on the 
stairs ; the dancing room is the only forbidden 
ground ; their observations are made upon the 
dresses and every individual, and ever and anon 
their deafening choruses sound wildly and 
piercingly through the still night air, expressive 



THE WEST INDIES. 2/ 

of their delight and gratification at the changing 
scene. 

26th. Demerara customs are very different 
from English, and do not meet my ideas of 
comfort. The domestic apprentices live in huts 
in the yard ; some come in with their children 
to cook, and others to dust the sitting rooms. 
During the day there are pickaninnies trotting 
about, or lying down in the drawing room, whilst 
their mothers are doing the work. The table cus- 
toms do not suit me ; no breakfast to be had (ex- 
cepting a small cup of coffee sent up to one's 
bed-room) till near ten, after which the sun is 
so hot, it is exhausting to go out ; dinner is 
served at five, and no tea or supper after, as the 
fire is then put out, and the domestics go home. 
Thus one becomes a prisoner, with two meals 
per diem ; for walking, to any extent, is impos- 
sible in the noon-day, and there are neither 
horses nor carriages to be hired ; all who are 
able keeping their own, and there are plenty of 
these private equipages rolling along ; and the gay 
gigs, phaetons, and cars, contrast strikingly with 
naked children, which are now and then seen in 
the streets, and the almost naked apprentices and 
Indians; most of the former, and all of the latter, 
having only a girdle around them. The terms 
for boarding, are three dollars per diem, not in- 
cluding wine. 

We have reported ourselves at the strangers' 
office, in the public buildings, according to 



28 LETTERS FROM 

law ; this is done that a trifling tax may be 
levied on every one arriving, and if such intend 
to reside in the colony a larger sum, amounting 
to several dollars, is demanded ; and no one can 
leave the colony without buying a passport, and 
to procure this, his name must be advertised in 
the Royal Gazette for six weeks, or he must find 
two satisfactory securities ; this is intended to 
prevent debtors running away. 

We called upon the Governor, Sir James Car- 
michael Smyth ; he is a tall portly man, has 
been here two years, at first he was coolly treated, 
but the planters having won him measurably to 
their views, he is becoming a favourite. 

Last evening we delivered a letter of introduc- 
tion to J. Ketley, Minister of the Independent 
Missionary Chapel. On our way we stept into 
one of the Methodist Missionary Chapels; service 
was going on, the congregation was large for a 
week day, and most quiet; and J. S. said the 
singing was superior to that in England. The 
singers (Negros) were in a gallery, and after the 
service was concluded, they sang whilst the com- 
pany withdrew; the effect was pleasing. We 
had interesting conversation with J. Ketley ; 
he lives in apartments over the old Missionary 
Chapel, which is now a boys' school room, 
having lately erected a large, convenient, and 
elegant Chapel adjoining. His wife is . much 
engaged with her young family ; but a widowed 
sister residing there, whose husband was a Mis- 




3»><n« 



J " . ~'4 ~.r- ; 

Ml ^? 




l : ?.- 



I | 



ssl 






^^gjl 



::: --''-. ; 









ag CDC 






THE WEST INDIES. 29 

sionary, devotes herself to benevolence, visiting the 
sick on the estates, et cet., which in this climate 
is a great exertion, without the convenience of a 
vehicle. J. Ketley has also established an In- 
fant School, the first in the Colony ; and for 
which Lady Smyth has shown considerable in- 
terest, as also for the Bible Society. How cheer- 
ing is the company of devoted Missionaries ; their 
speaking and treatment of the Negros as human 
beings is as cordial to my mind ; whilst the con- 
versation of Planters is harsh and grating : these 
never speak of Negros as any thing more than 
goods and chattels, defend their right to this pro- 
perty, and cannot broach any interference. At our 
lodgings we have had abundance of conversation on 
these grounds with the Berbice Planters, but they 
do not quarrel with the compensation money : the 
twenty millions has evidently pleased them. G. 
C. says he received fourteen thousand pounds 
compensation money, and that the British nation 
was gulled ; that they only held their slaves by 
sufferance, till the act of registration took place^ 
(this act was passed to prevent the admission of 
fresh Negros, but it riveted the bonds of West 
Indian Slaves ;) that the Colony would be ruined 
after 1840; the plantations would become a 
wilderness, from the drains and culture being 
neglected, for free Negros would not work and 
the estates would then be abandoned ; and yet said 
G. C. I have seen traits in the Negro character 
which brought tears into my eyes. The above 



30 



LETTERS FROM 



statement, as to ruin, is falsified by one fact, 
that the Planters themselves are buying property, 
and increasing their works. There are few 
Planters who take precautionary measures for 
the future. The free children on the estates are 
neglected; and hence an improvident idle race may 
spring up. If then there should be some confusion, 
it will be from the Planters' neglect ; I do not fear 
the result. My good opinion is partly founded 
from seeing them at their places of worship. Peo- 
ple who behave so seriously and orderly must be 
under the influence of their ministers and religion, 
and will be guided, I doubt not, as their ministers 
may direct. Now, if in bondage the gospel has 
had such weight, what will be the case when the 
free gospel is preached to the captive set free ? 
The minister may then truly say the blessings of 
the gospel are dispensed to all, because the Go- 
vernor and governed will be under its influence ; 
whereas now they preach a gospel which is con- 
trolled and opposed by those who have assumed 
the name of Christians, and who pay no atten- 
tion to the dictate of "do unto others, as you 
would others should do unto you." 

Education is of the highest importance. D. 
T.'s Negro apprentice, who has waited on us, 
said he was anxious to learn to read, but his 
mistress would not let him go to school ; yet she 
is said to be the richest woman in George Town. 
Slavery is a poison to society, undermining the 
Christian virtues in the upper classes, who ought 



THE WEST INDIES. 31 

to protect the lower orders. Housekeepers com- 
plain how little apprentices will do ; they have no 
inducement to work. A Scotch lady told J. S. 
she paid the mistress of her servant £12 per 
annum, and clothed the girl. She is an appren- 
tice, and let out to her on those terms, having 
no reward herself. Now her first owner re- 
ceived compensation money, and now receives the 
whole of the girl's earnings. This is slavery, 
except the name. 

I remain, &c. 



32 LETTERS FROM 



LETTER IV. 

George Town, Demerara, 12th Month, Uh, 1836. 

My Dear F r. 

We have now engaged comfortable lodgings 
at K. A's, being quite tired of our previous nightly 
unsettlement. We are becoming familiar with 
the town, which is very interesting to a European, 
from its torough tropical character- British 
Guiana includes the settlements on the Essequibo, 
Demerara, and Berbice rivers. These were origi- 
nally Dutch Colonies, which after changing hands 
at several periods, were again taken possession of 
by England in 1803, and have been retained from 
that time. In 1812 the name of the capital was 
changed from Stabroek to George Town, situated 
on the Demerara river ; it is estimated to contain 
12,604 inhabitants, — viz., whites, 1,620; free- 
black and coloured, 4,368 ; apprentices, 6,616. 
The population of the whole district is 100,000; 
— viz., whites, 6,555; free-coloured, 9,366 ; ap- 
prentices, 84,915 ; which were determined, under 
the Emancipation Act, to be of the value of £114 
each. Eastward, on the Berbice river, is situated 
New Amsterdam. There is no town on the banks 



THE WEST INDIES. S3 

of the Essequibo. Demerarais a Crown Colony; 
which means that since its conquest it has not 
been governed on the representative system, re- 
turning its House of Assembly, et cet., but by 
Orders in Council ; the Council continues to pos- 
sess the form of Government which it had before 
its conquest. It has the name of the Court of 
Policy, constituted originally of four Official 
Members, appointed by the Sovereign, and four 
from amongst the inhabitants, by the College of 
Keizers. Since 1831 it has been enlarged to ten 
members. British Guiana is situated on the 
main of South America ; latitude 66° 10^ north of 
the equator. Its soil is alluvial, and believed to 
be the richest in the world ; in other words inex- 
haustible. The climate is very rainy, and though 
generally said to have two wet and two dry 
seasons ; others think this is arbitrary, and not 
established by fact, rain at times falling in every 
month. The course of the river Demerara is from 
south to north, but the shore extending nearly 
east and west, the river in its general course is 
nearly at right angles with it, and is about two 
miles wide at the mouth. Its waters, and those 
of the Essequibo, and of the Berbice rivers, are 
always muddy,— a reddish brown ; and such is the 
quantity of fresh water and alluvial matters 
pouring forth, that the waters many miles from 
shore have the same character. The flowing tide 
makes no difference in the colour ; and thus the 
blue sea is never seen from the land. George Town 

F 



d4 LETTERS FROM 

has increased rapidly since its possession by the 
British ; and from Camp House, at the mouth of 
the river, to the public buildings, may be two 
miles, and the town extends farther. The public 
buildings are magnificent, erected at a cost of 
£50,000. Except Water-street, which runs near 
the river, the others are very wide, with one 
water course down the middle, or with two, one 
at each side. The first process in this Colony has 
been to cut large canals from the river, and erect 
sluices, into which canals the water courses enter ; 
the same plan is followed for a plantation. A main 
barge canal is cut through the estate, then smaller 
ones, which falling into it, drain the land, the waters 
being let out by the sluices when the tide has ebbed. 
The houses, chiefly of wood, are separate from 
each other, and the very wide streets, with 
towering vegetation on every side, give it the 
character of a town in a tropical Eden. The 
houses are built upon piles or brick piers, and 
the ground floor is generally used as a stable, 
store house, et cet. ; the apartments above are 
shaded by verandahs and jalousies, and are large 
and elegant. The roads are tolerably good, and 
great indeed must have been the labour to make 
them. 

The noon day is hot and quiet, as in Barbadoes ; 
but if the evening chirrup there, attracted my 
attention, well might my ears be astounded by a 
Guiana evening serenade. As the sun sinks in 
the west, the water courses appear to be the 



THE WEST INDIES. 35 

abodes of innumerable frogs, differing in speech, 
but all wonderfully talkative. The frog croaking 
in England, for a week or two in the spring, is 
not annoying ; but here it rests not, ceases not 
the live-long year ; the effect is compound, the 
mind rejoices in the hilarity and happiness of 
animated nature; but when weary, is disappointed, 
that, after the fatigues of the day, there should not 
be the " stilly night," to renew exhausted powers. 
Neither pen or pencil can describe the concert ; 
the prevailing sound is like the word " which," 
uttered sharply, and this is conjoined with the 
deep croak of the larger species. But frogs are 
not alone in the converzatione ; crickets and 
grasshoppers lend their aid ; ami exactly at six 
p. m., the rhinoceros beetle, or razor grinder, 
begins to saw a twig, by fastening on it with 
its horns, and spinning round it ; the sound is 
like grinding an edge tool, and interested me 
from the regular time it commenced. "Activity 
and noise remind us only of this world, but silence 
and repose lead us to a world to come." Now the 
fire-flies coruscate through the air, and about and 
through the trees, in the most effulgent manner. 
There are several species, some no larger than 
flies, with the phosphorescence under the wings ; 
others large as beetles, with a lamp on each side 
of the head. Now, also, old musquitoe bites 
renew their nightly irritation, and fresh ones are 
planted. Woe be to the new comer who dares 
to sit without boots of some kind to protect his 
ankles, or to sit without gloves on his hands. 



36 LKTTERS FROM 

All strangers suffer from the irritation of these 
bites ; they are frequently accompanied with con- 
siderable fever, the legs become inflamed and 
swollen, and the itching so intolerable, that the 
only resource is to bathe them with Eau de 
Cologne, or spirits of camphor, and thus change 
the sensation into a smart ; for scratching quickly 
produces irritable sores, which are difficult to 
heal, and cause serious inconvenience. After a 
time the bites do not inflame, though the enemy 
is unconquerable. 

This alluvial shore is perfectly flat ; there is not 
the least elevation till we ascend the river twenty- 
five miles, when sand hills appear. It would have 
interested me to have seen these, but there is no 
public conveyance. There are several sawing 
mill establishments in George Town. The trees 
on the coast are not much prized, but those at a 
distance from the river are valuable : as the 
wallaba, ballo, green and purple heart, and many 
others. Woodcutters are sent up the river, in an 
open barge, with a supply of plantains and other 
provisions, and live in the woods in a rude man- 
ner for months together. I have had the offer 
of such accommodation, but it requires considera- 
tion. Round the coast, the trees are neither so 
many as to variety, or so valuable in quality ; the 
principal are the mora, the courada, the man- 
grove, et cet. The residences in town are orna- 
mented with the plantain, the almond, the sea 
side grape tree, the sand-box tree, but especially 



THE WEST INDIES. 3/ 

by the cocoa nuts, and cabbage trees. These last 
are planted in avenues before the houses, and on 
each side of the road, for miles. They are said 
to grow two hundred feet high, but are hand- 
somest about sixty or seventy feet ; their graceful 
plumes, their towering spikes, and their lofty 
stems, at once arrest the attention. The spike is the 
close sheaths of the unfolded leaves, and interesting 
it is to see one burst out, and stretching its foliage, 
as if to woo the sun. At the base of the spike, 
green shining spathes appear, each enclosing a 
many flowered spadix. The fruits are berries. 
From the point where the spathes appear, to the 
top of the spike, the colour is a beautiful green ? 
and the surface smooth ; whilst the trunk below 
is brown and rough. In the heart of the green 
part of the stem, the cabbage is contained; I 
believe it is the incipient leaf. I have eaten of 
it, and could have mistaken it for the early York ; 
it does not often come to table, as a tree must 
be cut down to procure it; a sacrifice few will 
make. The cocos nucifera is very distinguishable, 
the leaves are more straggling, and hence less 
tufted ; the foliage is a lighter green, it has no 
spike, and the nuts appear at the root of the 
leaves, many of them in one bunch. I have 
counted twelve dozen cocoa nuts on a tree, con- 
tained in three or four bunches. The ripe nut 
is seldom eaten here, but when green, esteemed 
as wholesome and nutritious ; the pulp is then 
soft and can be scooped out. The market here is 



38 LETTERS FROM 

abundantly supplied with them ; as also with 
many other fruits ; my favourites are the orange, 
shaddock, and pine apple; especially the shad- 
dock, which has the appearance of a lemon, though 
very much larger; its flavour is between the 
lemon and orange; it is also distinguished by 
the name of forbidden fruit, why, no one can tell ; 
it certainly has not one characteristic of the apple. 
Pine apples are excellent in flavour, and fourpence 
each. Fish and poultry are good, but other 
meats execrable; hard, lean, and stringy, they 
even resist boiling as regards being made tender. 
We paid an early visit to the gaol, the super- 
intendent, P. Horan, showed us every attention ; 
the regulations are very creditable, when com- 
pared with Barbadoes ; the tread-mill, however, 
goes uselessly round and round, not even working 
a ventilator. Women are placed upon it, but are 
not flogged : many women are sentenced to break 
stone ; the task is half a ton each per diem; these 
we saw in an enclosed yard, exposed to the sun ; 
many held their infants in their left arms, whilst 
breaking stone with the right : having their chil- 
dren with them is considered a privilege, when 
no one will take charge of them. Negro women 
have the character of extreme fondness for their 
offspring. The solitary cells were not very gloomy. 
H * * said that confinement in these cells whiten- 
ed the skin, and he had a prisoner, time back, 
whose master did not know him from this cause ; 
this favours the doctrine of " a tropical sun, a black 



THE WEST INDIES. 39 

skin ;" though physiologists have satisfactorily 
proved the true cause exists in the rete mucosum. 
In this prison there is a distinction made in the 
diet between the black and white : the negro has 
twelve plantains and twelve ounces of salt fish per 
diem ; a white man has at least one third more, 
and meat two days a week 5 judging from appear- 
ances the negro ought to have the most, in this 
climate he is certainly the most vigorous looking. 
P. H. informed us it was the custom to execute 
the sentences of flogging, openly at the market, 
and this is the prevailing punishment, from twenty 
to forty lashes ; and that here negros would be 
flogged by the public buildings, on a certain 
morning, at six a. m. We went, but none ap- 
peared.* 

Prisoners are not confined long before trial, as 
the High Sheriff's court sits every month : the court 
consists of four, viz. the High Sheriff, and three 
magistrates, no jury being nominated ; they hear 
a number of cases, then consult and pronounce 
judgment; and the judgment is fearfully on one 
side ; and naturally so, for the High Sheriff is a 
wealthy planter ; the negros have to plead and 
defend their own causes, and of course do it 
imperfectly. We have attended this court ; one 
man, a Scotchman, appeared against two of his 
negro labourers. This Scotchman left his native 

* J. S. tells me since his return, that these public floggings 
were not executed any more whilst he remained in the 
colony. 



40 LETTERS FROM 

country as a ploughman, but having a white skin, 
soon obtained notice; he employed himself in rais- 
ing sand mixed with broken shell, for garden walks; 
he engaged some indented labourers, who dis- 
pleased him ; he sent them to gaol, and they were 
tried and condemned to be punished. 

There is a systematic plan for procuring these 
indented labourers. A vessel is sent to Barbadoes, 
Antigua, Tortola, et cet., oh which islands there 
is a superabundance of hands. Agents on the 
islands, are instructed to buy up the terms of 
apprenticeship, from planters willing to sell. The 
negros are persuaded by prospects held out, and 
then the abolition law allows their removal ; they 
are carried to Demerara, and enter into an agree- 
ment to work out their apprenticeship, on certain 
terms. It might be wrong to call this the slave 
trade, but it may safely be called the apprentice- 
ship trade, and over which the abolition act has 
no control.* It is so imperative for the planters 
to get rich out of human sinews, that I am sure 
the negros can never effect their freedom. They 
will owe it, if ever procured, to the watchful 
anxiety of abolitionists. The apprenticeship, as 
regards negro women, is more heart rending than 



* A dispatch from Lord Glenelg, No. 142, dated 19th. of 
August, 1837 ; as also Her Majesty's Order in Council, of the 
12th. of July, 1837, have been published in the Royal Gazette 
at George Town. 

These documents authorize the planters to import Hill 
Coolies, from Calcutta to Demerara, for five years, as indented 



THE WEST INDIES. 41 

slavery; under the latter, the indulgences were 
many in clothes and provisions ; the masters had 
an interest in the children, and took care of the 
mothers, having nurses and nurseries for their 
well doing. The change is sad, the planters' in- 
terest remaining in the mothers, and that ceasing 
in a few years, he forces them to the field, heed- 
less of their sufferings ; there is no matron to 
take charge of the children, and doubtless many 
have perished from this cause ; yet the mothers 
prefer they should die, than bind them appren- 
tices for twenty one years, which the local acts 
authorise. But not a single instance has trans- 
pired of a mother binding her child for any 
term. No, indeed, the six years apprenticeship 
they are ensuring, is teaching them a lesson, 
which they are determined their children shall 
never learn. 

11th. It rains almost every day; tropical 
rains are very heavy. The clouds are sur- 
charged from the much greater absorption caused 
by a tropical sun. Owing, perhaps to the mois- 
ture of the climate, I have had several nights an 
oppression of breathing. I have a few times felt 
the same inconvenience in England ; but the 



labourers. Labourers in the East Indies, have the name of 
Coolies, and these coming from the hills, some distance from 
Calcutta, are called Hill Coolies. The information has recently 
arrived, that this outrage on humanity is already in operation, 
two vessels laden with these unfortunate beings, having re- 
cently arrived at Demerara. 
G 



42 LETTERS FROM 

sitting up, and throwing the window open, 
quickly relieved me. One window of my bed- 
room is open, having jalousies ; I therefore 
fancied the musquitoe net increased the oppres- 
sion, and one night sat outside and dosed till 
morning ; but my legs above my cloth boots, and 
my temples were so musquitoed, I durst not re- 
peat this plan, and without any particular care 
the inconvenience has subsided. 

" The learned tribe 
A change of air for stubborn ills prescribe ; 
For doing nothing often has prevailed, 
"When ten physicians have prescribed and failed." 

We have been kindly noticed by Captain 
Southey, brother to the Laureate ; he has an 
appointment as harbour master. He has written 
a chronological history of the West Indies, and 
is a friend to the Negro. He has a son and daugh- 
ter living with him, who are accomplished and in- 
teresting. We have dined at his house, and met 
Mr. Ross, Stipendiary Magistrate, of George 
Town, and Captain Allen, a Magistrate, up the 
river; all persecuted men for their principles. 
Captain S. said it was the first Anti-Slavery 
party that had met at Demerara since the Aboli- 
tion Act. One of the party said some time back 
he had been to the public sale rooms to buy some 
castors, and was astonished to find them selling 
apprentices by auction one by one. He repre- 
sented the case to the Governor ; the other party 



THE WEST INDIES. 43 

prepared affidavits to prove the statement false. 
He had no witness, so could not maintain his 
ground ; but the shaft of revenge was levelled at 
him \ and as they could not effect his removal, 
they endeavoured to ruin him, by voting him a 
less income. 

An individual case of oppression has much 
interested * us : an apprentice, (Jupiter,) on the 

H estate, with an anchy-losed elbow, was 

pronounced by Dr. P , medical visiter of the 

estate, to be fit for hard work. The man could 
not work, and came to Mr. Ross, who sent him for 
examination to the army surgeon, who declared 
him incapable. Jupiter, on returning to the 
estate, was confined in the dark hole. His diet 
was plantains and water ; and because he could 
not work, he was banished to the back dam, there 
to be watchman, never to appear at the Negro 
huts. The back dam is the outside embankment 
of an estate, lonesome and solitary; where for 
weeks it might happen no one would see him. 
The two doctors have been quill quarelling man- 
fully in the newspapers ; but Dr. P's statements 
have a sandy foundation. Jupiter has called 
upon me ; he is totally unfit for field work ; the 
elbow joint of the affected arm is anchy-losed, 
having but slight motion, and the muscles above 
and below are much wasted ; the disease is severe, 
and of long continuance. One arm is sound, and 
he might be usefully employed in many ways ; 
but because he is unable to do hard work, he is 



44 LETTERS FROM 

condemned by the Special Magistrate not to work 
at all, but to live like a hermit, walking round the 
dam ; most paltry revenge. Thus it is, that the 
poor Negros, acknowledged on all hands never to 
be wanting in gratitude, are driven to desperation. 
Jupiter, quite consistently with his name and 
situation, might have exclaimed with the poet : — 

" Proclaim the woe, 
Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds, 
And doleful winds wail to the howling hills, 
And howling hills mourn to the dismal vales, 
And dismal vales sigh to the sorrowing brooks, 
And sorrowing brooks weep to the weeping stream." 

The Planters say the apprenticeship works well ; 
may be so for them ; but it works most wretchedly 
for the Negros. How I wish their freedom was 
sealed ; they are only treated and spoken of as 
chattels ; as free men they will flourish. There is 
a fine field for industry, labourers being much 
wanted. A respectable druggist, I am acquainted 
with, (his shop is larger and handsomer than any 
chemist's in Birmingham,) told me he had no fear 
as to the Negros after 1840. Any one said he 
can earn a dollar per diem. He pointed out to 
me an old man near the window, apparently in- 
firm and fit for little. I have hired him out, said 
the druggist, at one hundred dollars per annum ; 
disgraceful income ! Man it is said shall live by 
the sweat of his brow ; but here he lives by the 
sweat of another's \ and in this way numbers are 



THE WEST INDIES. 45 

supported by hiring out their apprentices. Com- 
pensation money came first, and now an annual 
income ; and this gain from the oppressed, con- 
tinues to be so sweet, that freedom, I fear, will be 
made very tortuous ; and under the screwing 
operation of police and vagrant laws, it will be 
twisted into a very questionable shape. Anti- 
police, and anti-vagrant exertions will be wanted as 
much as anti-apprenticeship are at the present time. 
Do not then relax ; continue to awaken a British 
interest for the poor and the afflicted. In my 
opinion Anti-Slavery Societies have not always 
been on the right plan. Their funds have been 
expended in publishing, whereas they should have 
been spent in missions to get at facts. This 
private mission (for we do not spend the funds 
of any society) will enlighten the public more, 
and be of more benefit to the Negro, than printing 
tracts for five years in London. He who would 
hunt the lion, must seek him in his lair; and so 
Anti-Slavery Societies must maintain their ground 
by positive facts, and trusty correspondents 
abroad, in whom they can confide. The appren- 
ticeship could have been reasoned upon in Eng- 
land, but it could not have been seen without 
going to the West Indies. 

" If you wish to seek your real foe, 

" He is encamped on the Mountain of Bentomiz.'* 

I remain, &c. 



46 



LETTERS FROM 



LETTER V. 

George Town, Demerara, 12th Month, ISth, 1836. 

My Dear F r. 

Sabbath days in this town are religiously 
observed, the stores are all shut, and the places 
of worship are filled with attentive hearers. The 
negros are admitted into all, but in those under 
the patronage of the Government, they have poor 
accommodation ; thus in St. George's, a gallery 
is appropriated to them ; in the Scotch church, 
they sit in the passages between the pews. This 
may be one cause why the Missionaries have such 
fine negro congregations, there being no distinc- 
tion in their communities of believers. This is 
the sabbath dajr, and it would have delighted thee 
this morning to have seen the congregation at J. 
Ketley's chapel ; the women in white gowns, 
with bonnets, or showy handkerchiefs twisted 
round their heads ; they do not wear caps, but 
bind round cotton prints in a tasteful manner. 
The men all neat in white jackets, or otherwise. 
The assembly was truly quietness personified, ex- 
cept when the hymns called forth their vocal pow- 
ers. Negros have great aptness in singing, and all 




y 



r 






w 




','-;>- ass \*M 



■$: 



HS lis 1 m *» 



glip 'i 



THE WEST INDIES. 4/ 

join irij whether they know the words or not. In 
casting one's eyes over such an assembly, many 
of whom are apprentices, the query darts through 
the mind, is it possible that white men, who are 
worshipping beneath yonder spire, should claim 
an ownership in you, who are thus met to praise 
and glorify the same great Creator, whose har- 
mony is as sweet to, and whose sincerity will be 
equally rewarded by, that Almighty Being ? It is 
needful to come here to grasp the glorious subject 
of missionary enterprise ; it is only by seeing them 
amidst their labours that we can duly appreciate 
the importance of their exertions- A Missionary 
goes forth with a scanty allowance from some 
society, erects a small chapel, with a few rooms 
over it as a residence, and devotes himself to his 
flock : in time, with contributions, et cet., he 
builds a commodious and elegant meeting house, 
and converts his first chapel into a school room ; 
and having accomplished this, the congregation 
support him. But is the property his own ? by 
no means, it is made over to individuals in trust, 
for the Parent Society ; and if the Missionary 
dies, which often happens, his wife has no interest 
or claim upon it, but leaves her husband's vine- 
yard to be cultivated by another ; surely such are 
widows indeed, and deserve great sympathy. 
Apprentices come from a considerable distance, 
sit in the chapel between the services, and return 
home in the evening and night ; it is the practice 
of J. Ketley to converse with these, and to give 



48 



LETTERS FROM 



them instruction in reading, et cet. Under such 
influences it may be safely affirmed that all the 
predictions of future evil will be falsified ; but let 
us give the praise where it is due, to the Almighty 
and his servants, and not to the British Legislators, 
who contributed the Imperial Apprenticeship to 
fit the slaves for freedom ! 

We have received what is intended for a casti- 
gation, from the Guiana Chronicle, a paper sub- 
servient to what is falsely termed colonial interests; 
I am described as a skulking naturalist, and J. 
Scoble as an hired spy from Aldermanbury. This 
shows the envy and malice of the slavery advocat- 
ing press. There is another government paper here, 
but no really independent liberal one, to advocate 
the cause of the coloured people ; there is, con- 
sequently, much mental slavery for want of more 
daring independence ; few are bold enough to say 
what they think; they boast of being abolitionists, 
and they apply this as unction to their consciences, 
so that they may wipe their hands of crime, and 
and then say they "we have no power ; first slavery 
was, and now the apprenticeship is, sanctioned by 
law." My opinion is, that the West India Colonies 
are nests of prejudice ; for if individuals do not 
foster the colonial temper, they are marked 
men. The South eys tell us they have formed the 
subjects of twenty leading articles in the above 
named paper, though they are of the high church 
party, but abolitionism denounces them. The 
free coloured people will not undertake the cause 



THE WEST INDIES. 49 

of the apprentices ; they are supine and dare not, 
being shopkeepers, et cet., they fear persecution. 
There is only one way, the negros must be made 
free, and then they will stand their ground and 
defend themselves ; they are not an idle people ; 
I never see them idling or loitering in the streets ; 
many of the women and children one meets are 
carrying burdens, such as vegetables, fruits, et 
cet. Negros carry every thing on their heads, if 
only one pound weight ; thus never stooping in 
their walk, they have a remarkably erect position. 
Prejudice has taken deep root, and it is hard to 
say when the whites will lay it aside, and charity 
be cultivated. From society, from balls, and 
parties, the coloured people are excluded, though 
many of them are fairer than Europeans, and as 
well educated. A very respectable Creole coloured 
neighbour of ours (creole means born in the West 
Indies, and applies to white or black) told us she 
had lost her eldest son ; for after he was expen- 
sively educated in England, where he was treated 
as a gentleman, he would not return to Deme- 
rara to be despised, and therefore went to the 
East Indies. The negros are, and have been, a 
patient suffering people, and I do not doubt they 
will make industrious English subjects ; and I 
shall rejoice when they are free, seeing that en- 
slaving man destroys many good qualities in the 
enslaver's heart, till sooner or later he opposes 
the christian virtues. The slave trade carried 
on, as it now is, under Portuguese colours, unfolds 

H 



50 LETTERS FROM 

a sad prospect of the continued deterioration of 
the human mind, and proves that the love of gain, 
or in other words money, is the root of all evil. 

Near to J. Ketley's Chapel is a very large 
burial ground, the long grass shades the tomb 
stones. Here Missionary Smith was buried. 
He was charged with abetting an insurrection of 
the Slaves in 1823. He was tried and condemned 
to death ; a sentence which the Home Govern- 
ment changed to banishment. He however died 
in prison, and J. Wray, the oldest Missionary in 
the Colony, and who was a resident at the time, 
and acquainted with the circumstances of the 
trial, says, that the witnesses against Smith have 
nearly all come to a miserable end, and that 
those now alive, and who were in affluence when 
they appeared against him, are now beggars; a 
striking instance of retributive justice. As I 
walk by, I endeavour to picture to myself what he 
endured, hurled from his pulpit to a loathsome 
prison, incarcerated as a malefactor, and perhaps 
dying unattended. He was not forsaken in his 
affliction; faithfully believing and hopefully trust- 
ing, he was one of those, whom, as the historian 
observes, " fearing the Deity most, was least 
afraid of men." He might have exclaimed with 
Mary Queen of Scots, " Lament not, good Mel- 
ville, but rather rejoice, since thou shalt see me 
this day released from all my earthly miseries." 

" O, ye, that shudder at this awfnl strife, 
This wrestling agony of death and life, 



THE WEST INDIES. 51 

Think not that He, on whom my soul is cast, 
Will leave me thus forsaken at the last. 
Nature's infirmity alone you see ; 
My chains are breaking, I shall soon be free." 

Agents of the French Government, conveyed 
by a French Man of War, have been here investi- 
gating the apprenticeship ; they sailed again yes- 
terday to visit Trinidad, et cet. They did not 
fall into the hands of the parties the Editor of the 
Chronicle wished ; so he makes it a subject to 
feed a corrupted taste ; in proof I send thee his 
last paper. 

In my walks I have had great pleasure in 
watching the humming birds extracting sweets 
from trees in blossom, balanced on the wing ; the 
motion of their wings is too quick and rapid to be 
seen, and their restless bodies dart in every direc- 
tion. My Christmas will here be spent in a 
sunny clime, with humming birds around ; whilst 
thy garden is disrobed of every beauty, and the 
fire has become the chief attraction. I have not 
seen a fire since I left Falmouth, except once on 
the packet ; and the idea of one is unpleasant to 
me. I should like a puff from the cold north. 
We have spent a day at the Stirling Plantation ; 
proprietor, Mr. Rettymaer, and Receiver Ge- 
neral of the Colony; of Dutch extraction. He is 
a kind master, therefore not ashamed of showing 
his property. He has erected a school for the 
Negro children, which is very creditable 5 the free 



52 LETTERS FROM 

children being so much neglected, is one great 
evil of the apprenticeship. The Colonies, at a 
future day, will be either prosperous or disturbed, 
according as the rising generation is industrious 
or dissolute. We had much pleasure in seeing 
the interest manifested by the children ; they were 
of many colours. Large indeed is the capital 
required, and great is the labour to bring a part 
of this mud Savannah into profitable return ; for 
independent of the clearing and canals, there are 
wanted engine house, great house, boiling house, 
coffee loge, and Negro village, et cet., et cet. The 
mill here is on the most approved principle for 
economising labour ; it stands near the canal. In 
Demerara, cane is nourished by water, brought to 
the mill by water, and the sugar is carried off by 
water. Some philosopher said if he was to live a 
thousand years he could not discover all the bene- 
fits of cold water. In the canal lay a boat laden 
with canes ; Negros were throwing these canes 
on to an inclined plane, which the engine works. 
On arriving at the horizontal crushing rollers, a 
Negro directed them through ; pasing through 
once expresses the juice. On the other side the 
cane stalks, now called magass, fall upon another 
ascending inclined plane, which carries it up to the 
top of the magass house, and there as the revolv- 
ing plane goes round, it is tumbled off. This 
magass, when dry, is fuel for the boiling house, 
and it is believed necessary for making good 
sugar. The evaporating liquor at different stages 



THE WEST INDIES. 53 

requires different degrees of heat ; this magass 
answers the purpose ; it burns rapidly, producing 
a great flare and high temperature ; and then at 
any time by not continually feeding, the fire is 
nearly extinguished. Here then is one reason why 
rich lands are required for the cane, because the 
stalks being burnt, there is less spoil for manure. 
Canes however throw ' up much flag ; this partly 
falls off, part is trimmed off, and is left on the fields 
to decay ; and in the Islands it is of moment for the 
purpose of benefiting the soil, but in Demerara is 
not needed. From the rollers the juice falls into 
a spout, and thence runs to the boiling house. 
There are four or five boilers at work in a line 
over the fire flue; the first is filled with fresh 
liquor, and as it inspissates, it is ladled on to the 
next, and so to the farthest one ; and from thence 
it runs to the crystallising vat, from which, in 
twelve hours it is carried to the hogsheads ; these 
hogsheads stand on timbers several inches apart, 
in a warehouse, over an under ground cistern, and 
the treacle drains from them into this dark vault. 
It is known to be a receptacle for many unclean 
things, as cock roaches (cacerlackes) scorpions, 
and especially for rats ; nothing escaping when 
once in, but lying as a scum on the surface ; and 
the chamber is rarely cleaned out. The treacle is 
pumped up into puncheons ; but the Negros have 
an idea that the molasses partakes more or less of 
such accidental impurities, and therefore have lost 
all taste for ratified treacle. 



54 LETTERS FROM 

I do not intend any disparagement to the sugar 
itself; the manufacture of it is cleanly and quick, 
the liquor runs from the mill to the boilers, from 
the last boiler to the crystallising vat, and thence is 
carried to the hogsheads ; neither to be moved again, 
or trodden down by negroes, as some have sup- 
posed. The canes may be growing in the field as 
to-day, and to-morrow the sugar be draining in the 
warehouse ; the draining requires several days be- 
fore they are headed up. Three hogsheads per acre 
is a fine crop, the Demerara planters have one 
great advantage, their fields seldom require fresh 
planting. From the inexhaustible fertility of the 
soil, canes bear ratooning ; that is when cut 
down, the roots throw up fresh canes ; all that 
is required is planting a fresh stalk where a root 
may have perished ; we understand that cane fields 
will ratoon here for twenty or thirty years. We 
walked to the negro village ; the huts are queer 
places without windows, with dangling over- 
hanging roofs, and darksome. The best com- 
parison is a long shed, partitioned off into 
apartments ; the partitions are low, so that one 
may climb out of one into another. It was 
pleasant to hear those who were not absent in 
the field, greet their master ; M how do massa, 
hope massa well, glad to see massa, massa long 
time coming." Thus they welcomed him, for 
his engagements in town only allow of occasional 
visits ; all were glad to see him : it is evident the 
negros are very susceptible of kindness ; and 



THE WEST INDIES. 55 

very affectionate, and truly respectful, when it 
is awarded them in lieu of " bitter dole/' The 
proprietor is in advance of many others, is 
building many new cottages very comfortable ; 
such forecast and attention will secure the ser- 
viceable negros after 1840. A few days ago the 
proprietor of the adjoining estate was buried at 
eight a. m., the morning previously he had 
hung himself. He was eighty years old, sepa- 
rated from his wife : many years ago he fought 
a duel, and killed his adversary ; this destroyed 
his "mens conscia recti;" it weighed heavily 
on his mind, he considered it murder, and said 
he ought to have been tried for his life ; and as 
near as he was able he died like a malefactor, with 
a cap over his face, and suspended to a garret 
beam : neither of the colonial papers mentioned 
the manner of his death. 

" Will human laws deter him ? human laws 

Were surely not designed for men of honour. 

A starving wretch, in the pursuit of plunder, 

Commits a murder, and he shall be hanged ; 

Not so your man of honour — he may 

Arrange deliberately his mode of murder ; 

Become an adept by industrious practice, 

And boast of his expertness in the trade ; — 

He shall go free — he is a man of honour ; 

For laws, and those who ought to guard them, sleep. 

O yes ! no doubt, we are a christian people." 

Burials are seldom seen at George Town, they 
take place early in the morning, the day after 
death, and those on estates in private grounds ; 



56 LETTERS FROM 

so that there may be a great mortality and little 
evidence. Since our arrival one clergyman, and 
three medical men have died in this neighbour- 
hood, and a little way up the river there is a 
station, where four ministers died in less than two 
years. Where Europeans have daily out door 
duties to perform, the climate is very trying? 
exertion producing great exhaustion; but other- 
wise with those who can be at ease in the shade, 
as storekeepers, et cet. . one, an acquaintance of 
mine, has been in George Town six years, and 
had excellent health. 

26th. Yesterday was Christmas as well as the 
Sabbath day. The Christmas holidays are dear 
to the Negros ; they have two days' holiday. 
They make each other presents, feast together, 
and then dance the African dance, called "Joe 
and Johnny." The day in George Town was 
orderly and quiet as any English Sabbath till 
sun-down, when a few dances were in operation. 
They are open to any one ; are performed at the 
back of the houses ; the doors are thrown open for 
all inclining to walk through ; a circle is formed, 
but the space is so small I could jump across it ; 
as many as choose recite or sing to a very rude 
drum, (called gombayj 

" Which sounds like something, and yet it rings but hollow," 

played upon by the knuckles ; and two or at most 
four are in the circle at a time performing the evo- 
lutions, which are continuous. One party being 



THE WEST INDIES. 5/ 

tired, they hand out others and rest; and so the 
dance goes on for hours, it may be the whole night. 
Each one recites what he likes ; perhaps ridicules 
the "true Barbadian," who assumes considerable 
consequence, from its being the oldest British 
Colony. The amusement is simple, and I saw 
no intoxicating liquors handed about, yet very ob- 
jectionable for a Sabbath Christmas eve ; but do 
the great set a better example ? 

A son of one of the principal inhabitants, with 
his companions, started off up the river yesterday. 
The tide being against them they became weary, 
and coming to the shore, called at the Stirling 
Estate. The Manager was at Church ; but they 
made quite free to lunch, and quite alarmed the 
domestics, who took them for sailors. They en- 
deavoured to borrow horses, and not succeeding, 
they strolled towards town. The Manager 
coming home met them ; and though acquainted 
with the young man, on this Sabbath and 
Christmas day, he took him and his companions 
to be common sailors. We breakfasted this 
morning at the Stirling Estate. Mr. Retty- 
maer accompanied us. The apprentices were in 
their best clothes, it being the holidays. It was 
a pleasant morning, and they all came to ask 
their master how he did. We made them some 
presents, as spoons, knives, et cet., which they 
joyfully received. They had much to say, and 
many favours to ask. They heartily expressed 
themselves regarding the presence of their master, 
i 



58 LETTERS FROM 

as a great treat. This was as it should be. 
"Not the mere mouth homage which betrays 
itself v by the cold precision of the language in 
which it is couched, but the ebulition of feeling, 
rushing pure from the heart, and leaping the bar- 
riers of ceremony in its honest ardour." There are 
near three hundred apprentices on this estate, in- 
cluding children. We went into the hospital, alias 
sick-house, or hot-house, a suitable building ; 
there were some patients, who were visited nearly 
every day by a medical man. One of the trouble- 
some complaints is dysentery ; the remedy is an 
infusion of ipecacuanhae ; at first it vomits, but 
longer persisted in, removes the complaint. In 
every sick house is a drug store ; the apothecary 
is a Negro, perhaps an apprentice. The Me- 
dical Officer writes his prescriptions in a book 
in English, and leaves Sambo to administer them. 
The surgeon receives one dollar and a half, or more, 
for every adult on the estate, whether sick or not, 
per annum ; supplies the medicines; and generally 
becomes a rich man ; certainly so, if prudent, and 
having the charge of several estates ; especially if 
residing in George Town, the estate practice not 
interfering at all with his private, he rides over 
to the estates before breakfast, which leaves him 
the rest of the day. The apprentices of this 
neighbourhood are under the notice of an evan- 
gelical clergyman, of the name of Strong, and 
he is doing great good, and putting to shame all 
the other ministers, except the Missionaries. He 



THE WEST INDIES. 59 

has a large Sunday school room purposely built 
near the Church ; and this being their annual ex- 
amination, on our return we went in. At least 
two hundred black and coloured children were 
present. When the examinations had closed, 
they were to have refreshment, which was laid 
out in the room, covered with a cloth. We staid 
whilst three classes of twenty-five each were ex- 
amined. They read Scripture lessons, and ac- 
quitted themselves so well, I could have believed 
they had tuition every day in the week, rather 
than once. Here then was proof that Negros 
wish their children to be instructed, and that the 
children love the instruction. They were all 
neatly dressed, and many had walked miles, from 
the different estates. Some visitors were present, 
and the clergyman's lady had evidently her heart 
in the cause ; instead of being dressed out, she 
might have been taken for the mistress, and ar- 
ranged the classes herself, walking amongst the 
pupils. Mr. Strong dislikes the "Joe and 
Johnny" dancing ; and the apprentices are so de- 
sirous of pleasing him, it is thought there will 
be none this Christmas. Were all the Whites, 
Planters, et cet., such duty performing Christians, 
there would be no present gloom, nor future evil 
forebodings ; for as " hope enlarges happiness, 
fear aggravates calamity/ ' The motto here 
should be " non est vivere, sed valere vita" and 
thus the " Icedentia would be changed for the 
juvantia." An intelligent author observes, "The 



60 



LETTERS FROM 



great end of education, if it corresponds to the 
great end of life, is by no means advancement in 
the world, but to inculcate such principles, and 
lead to such habits as will enable men to pass 
with integrity and real honour through life, and 
to be inflexibly just, benevolent, and good." 

In going to the Stirling Estate, we pass by the 
ring ; this is the fashionable drive, and after four 
o'clock, p. m., parties may be daily seen on their 
way to it. I was curious to see this ring ; it may 
be two miles from town ; the road passes by se- 
veral fine estates, La Penitence, et cet., through 
an avenue of cabbage palms : it is merely a turn 
round for carriages on one side the road; so 
round the ring they wheel, and back again. There 
is however near to the town, an extensive ring 
with a grand stand upon it, viz., a race course. 
How appropriate this would be for evening drives. 
How much more beneficial than debarring it, ex- 
cept once or twice a year, when the races occur. 

About this time last year I was skaiting at 
Bewdley, where I much admired the hoar frost, 
and could gather the " moss of many winters." 
I am now breathing an atmosphere of 84° six de- 
grees from the line ; the former was the most in- 
vigorating. 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 61 



LETTER VI. 

New Amsterdam, Berhice River, 1st. Month, 1st,, 1837, 

My Dear F r. 

There are several Indian tribes around British 
Guiana ; the nearest to the settlements are the 
Arrawaaks, and next the Accawaies : numbers 
of these two tribes we saw daily in George Town 
previous to the Christmas holidays. They have 
festivities at this time, whether acquired from 
the negros I know not ; the Indians are not 
generally copyists. They come down the river 
in their corials, or canoes, to make purchases ; 
several times chiefs were with them. The sight 
is so common, few remark upon it, but our curi- 
osity was much excited ; I saw them shopping ; 
they paid for the articles in silver coin, under- 
standing the prices asked, as if acquainted with 
the English language. The chiefs were orna- 
mented with feathers, and other finery; the 
dress of the others was an apron ; infants were 
in the arms of the mothers ; they bring various 
articles for sale ; a common one is a pegall, or nest 
of baskets of wicker work ; the baskets diminish 



62 LETTERS FROM 

in size gradually, and the internal one is small. 
Short stature, symmetrical figure, red skin, and 
lank black hair, are their characteristics ; they 
are exceedingly hospitable at their wig warns ; 
and Herbert Southey, who has frequently 
visited them, has met with true generosity and 
good nature : when under the influence of " fire 
water' ' they will part with their most valuable 
commodities, and in this way the very head dress 
of a chief may be obtained : in George Town they 
appear quite at ease, walking independently and 
fearlessly. Negros cannot compare with them as 
to features, their facial angle is so inferior. Not 
understanding their language was a barrier to 
social acquaintance. Charles Waterton, Esq. 
in his wanderings, mentions a large shed on the 
banks of the river, a little distance from town, 
erected by government for the use of the Indians, 
where presents were given to them, and where 
parrots, and other curiosities might be bought ; 
I walked several times to this shed, it is much 
dilapidated, the shingles having fallen off; there 
were generally a few Indians idling in their ham- 
mocks, or sitting down, making a temporary 
abode there, but they had neither animals or 
birds to dispose of; and a more co.mfortless 
resting place I never beheld. The Indians were 
the original possessors of the soil, and now all 
the accommodation they can procure in George 
Town is a roofless shed : they are deserving of 
more attention. 



THE WEST INDIES. 63 

Though I pitied the scanty clothing of the 
Indians and negros, for I have not seen a gang at 
work with any more clothing on than a girdle, 
there was one class of the community I pitied 
equally for having too much, viz. the soldiers ; 
those I saw, wore the regimental dress of Eng- 
land, red cloth jackets. Red cloth jackets 
to patrol guard, in a noon-day tropical sun ! in- 
conceivable state of discomfort ! I spoke to one, 
he said there was nothing cheap in the colony 
but rum and tobacco, and that he was heartily 
tired. Soldiers in the tropics should have two 
dresses in use, a linen one for the day, and a 
cloth one for night duty. I was liberally pro- 
vided with flannel waistcoats, recommended as 
necessary to insure my health ; but the idea of 
flannel when in the tropics, made me feel feverish. 
I was never comfortable except in a dressing 
gown, or light linen jacket : these jackets, with 
a panama hat, are worn by all classes. When 
we were introduced to the Governor, at the public 
buildings, he had a round-about on : when con- 
sidering the fearful sacrifice of life, which at 
times takes place amongst the troops in the West 
Indies, one feels anxious their comfort should be 
promoted to the utmost. 

Government has a sloop to carry dispatches to 
Berbice and back, it goes and returns every week ; 
it is allowed to take passengers, but they must find 
their own refreshment, knife and fork, and plate, 
et cet. We left George Town by this boat on the 



64 LETTERS FROM 

27th., in the evening ; it is a small affair, and 
no separate cabin for the ladies, the distance to 
Berbice river by sea, is near seventy miles : we 
escaped serious uneasiness, and yet comfort is 
not synonymous in my mind with a Stabroek dis- 
patch boat ; " meque jucundus somnus reliquit." 
I had therefore time to recollect our animated 
conversations with the Berbice planters, on our 
first landing at Stabroek, and how well J. Scoble, 
" respondere paratus," maintained his ground. 
One evening it was amusing; Mr. H. — — <f omni- 
fariam doctus," boldly maintained the planters' 
cause. J. S. drove him from one position to 
another, till he endeavoured to shelter himself 
under Bible authority; this proved untenable, and 
he came back to profane history, bringing Hero- 
dotus into the field : and who, asked J. S., was 
Herodotus, and when did he write, and whom 

will you quote next ? Mr. H. reflected, 

paused; the silence was felt, no answer came. 
J. S. saw his confusion, and replied, Herodotus 
wrote four hundred and eighty four years B. C, 
and was the father of history. The father of 
history closed the debate, and we retired to bed. 
I reflected on the persecutions that Captain 
Southey, and Magistrates Allen and Ross were 
subject to ; the latter during our visit, was threat- 
ened with an action, because he would not consent 
a woman should leave her reputed husband, and 
be sold to Pomaroon, in the Essequibo district, 
which is considered the Botany Bay of the colony : 



THE WEST INDIES. 65 

this woman was working hard for her master in 
George Town, but, nevertheless, he had sold her for 
the Wilderness. Mr. Ross has to hear and judge 
from, thirty to forty complaints every day ; yet 
when acting up to the letter of the Imperial Act, is 
threatened with law proceedings. I recalled our 

conversation with Dr. B. , he left Belfast an 

abolitionist some years back, was taken into part- 
nership by Dr. S , and advancing rapidly to 

fame and fortune, beheld the poor Africans 
through the Colonial lens. 

" Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views, 
At evening from the top of Fesole." 

But the Colonial optic glass is not famed for de- 
veloping all the wonders of creation ; on the other 
hand, it disfigures and disparages the Almighty's 
most glorious work, man, made in his image. 
The Colonial atmosphere freezes as it were the 
current of sympathy ; like a deadly upas tree, it 
corrupts every thing within its influence ; and so 
every one who acquires gain, produced by the poor 
Negros' " thews and sinews," becomes sooner or 
later inclined to foster the evil, and ere long em- 
barks with 

" Those who travel far, and sail 
To purchase human flesh; to wreath the yoke 
Of vassalage round beauteous liberty ; 
Or suck large fortune from the sweat of Slaves." 

Melancholy is the change which too frequently 
occurs ; and the argumentative reasoning from 

K 



66 



LETTERS FROM 



false premises, on the ground of public and 
private right, independent of Christian principle, 
was always painful to my mind ; a wish arose that 
I might be restored to a country, where Christian 
principle was acknowledged, and where a man 
might boldly become its advocate without being 
accused of undermining and convulsing society. 
Society in the Colonies is not held together by 
the innumerable, indissoluble, invisible links of 
Christian compact, but by a single tremendous 
one, — power. The whites have got possession of 
this link, and are so pleased with its magnitude 
and proportions, they compel the Negros to bear 
it about, that all whites may have the satisfaction 
of beholding the treasure ; and when philanthro- 
pists say it is too heavy, it c'ant be borne ; it 
presses the Negros to the earth ; we must lighten 
it ; then bursts forth the hue and cry, " you are 
ruining the Colonies, you are disorganizing so- 
ciety." I remembered our conversations with J. 
Ketley and Dr. C, the latter had been medical 
attendant to several estates; but sympathising 
with the Negros, and not countenancing the un- 
just application of the Imperial Act, he had to 
retire altogether from the estates, and devote 
himself to private practice in George Town. As 
an explanation of this unusual course, the whites 
said he was deranged. 

In the morning we observed a large object 
afloat in the sea before us ; the captain had 
never before seen any thing like it ; in a short 



THE WEST INDIES. 6/ 

time the mystery vanished ; we passed near, and 
beheld a large steam engine boiler afloat : no 
doubt some vessel afraid to near the shore, had 
discharged it, and it was waiting a boat from 
some neighbouring estate to tow it to laud. The 
verdurous shore formed the horizon on our right, 
and sailing on, we made the mouth of the Ber- 
bice river, and beheld Crab Island, low and ever 
green ; it may be two miles in circumference, un- 
inhabited, covered with mangroves, courada, and 
other timber. Sailing slowly through the ebbing 
tide, we had a continuous view of the low muddy 
banks. The waders were very numerous and at- 
tractive, from the contrast of colours. The little 
egret heron, (ardea garzettaj snowy white ; the 
blue heron, (ardea cceruleaj and the red curlew 
genus, (scolopax ;) their local names are white 
and blue galding, and currie currie ; these birds, 
white, blue, and scarlet, stalking at ease along the 
water's edge, beneath the living green, which 
knows no change, at once characterised tropical 
Guiana. As we ascended the river, numbers 
of the Turkey buzzard (vultur aura) stood 
moping in the sun. This is the untiring scaven- 
ger of southern latitudes, and protected by law : 
hence their tameness. Its appearance is disgust- 
ing, and the effluvia from its body, when in the 
hand, offensive ; but on high it is the most grace- 
ful of aeronauts ; speed is not its object, but to 
pry into every darksome hole and corner, where 
death and corruption can shelter. Poised on its 



68 LETTERS FROM 

outstretched wings, it rises and falls without ap- 
parently moving them ; its gyres are now close to 
the earth, and then it wheels aloft, anxious to 
snuff an odoriferous carcase in the coming breeze.* 
Their plumage is a dark dingy brown ; there are no 
feathers on the head and half way down the neck ; 
so that their hooked bills can plunge deep into 
carrion, without any danger of their feathers being 
soiled. At night they perch side by side on the 
horizontal leaves of the tallest cocoa nuts, in quiet 
broodings and melancholy musings, till awoke by 
the morning light, their silent search begins for the 
savoury morsel, here and there, and every where. 
They acquired the name of turkey from the 
plumage and wattled head and neck. History 
says that the first discoverers of Jamaica, were 
overjoyed at the abundance of these birds, and 
hastily endeavoured to make ready a turkey 
feast. The turkeys were knocked down, and this 
was the only preparation, as I believe they were 
left unplucked. Since skinning one of these birds 
my relish has lessened for the true dindon ; so 
much is in a name. 

On becoming acquainted with Guiana, the mind 
thinks it may have been easily conquered by the 

* They are not so numerous in George Town, from being 
too much disturbed, or too little protected ; but in New- 
Amsterdam, I daily walked within a few feet of them. I 
threw out a little offal before our lodgings occasionally, to 
notice how soon they would find it ; the gift was always 
quickly partaken of, and eaten on the premises ; proving they 
were honest beggars. 










^m 




< - 

: ':■; 






THE WEST INDIES 



69 



British, but not so easily settled by the Dutch 3 
few but Dutchmen would have attempted it ; they 
could not resist the charming similitude to their 
native country and the darling mud. They re- 
ceived great assistance from the Indians, simply 
because they treated them kindly. The Berbice 
river has a northern course similar to the Deme- 
rara, and its shores are equally rich and green, 
with alluvial fatness. New Amsterdam is upon 
the eastern shore, two miles from Crab Island. 
We landed about noon; it reminded me of the 
commencement of one of Dr. James Johnson's 
(of London) chapters in "Home Circuit, versus 
Foreign Travel," viz. : " As Oban is a little 
Omuz, so Tobermorry is a little Oban 5" and 
by the same method of comparison New Am- 
sterdam is a little Stabroek, with one eminent 
advantage, having a wide road between the stel- 
lings and stores, so that the river attractions 
are open to all ; and the dwellings being over 
the stores, from the apartments there is a pic- 
turesque river view. In the last census of 1827, 
the Berbice district only numbered 523 whites; 
free- coloured, 1,161 ; whilst the Slave registra- 
tion for 1831, numbers 20,418. New Amster- 
dam is, I believe, an older settlement than 
Stabroek, but is now far behind, not being the 
seat of government, and not having the character 
of a healthy site. Immediately behind the town 
is a very extensive lagoon ; this might easily be 
drained on the Dutch system of canals and 



70 LETTERS FROM 

sluices, but it is valued by the inhabitants for 
its pasturage, and fresh water for their cattle ; 
and so it remains a Miasma marsh. We settled 
down in lodgings, previously engaged ; by which 
means we escaped a repetition of our Stabroek 
inconvenience. We were kindly noticed by Mrs. 
Welshman, and a son-in-law, who called and 
welcomed us. She is a lady of an enlightened 
mind, and entered feelingly into the subject of 
Negro oppression. Her father, Mr. C, was one 
of the wealthiest Planters, so she was well ac- 
quainted with both the Slave and Apprenticeship 
system. Her heart was however distressed at 
the degradation and sufferings of the Negros ; and 
not a single observation escaped her, inclining to 
the view that the tale of woe had been too deeply 
coloured; far otherwise. She was delighted to 
hear the subject developed, reasoned upon, and 
denounced on Christian principles; and promo- 
ted our visiting Berbice, that some others might 
have the advantage of hearing enlightened views. 
Mrs. W. has daily been taught in the school of 
affliction for some years, and they who have been 
instructed thereby, can sympathise with the dis- 
tressed. I wish I had liberty to relate her roman- 
tic touching history, but omitted to ask permission. 
Mrs. W. kindly pressed us the day we landed 
to dine with her and some of her relations ; but J. 
S. having a swelled face, we declined. Two days 
after, we had a kind invitation from another 
gentleman ; a little indisposition prevented my 



THE WEST INDIES. ^\ 

accompanying J. S., who went on the day ap- 
pointed. I afterwards became acquainted with 
the occurrences of that evening. My friend found 
himself in the midst of the leading Planters of 
JBerbice, all " pipkins of the same pottery." 

Men feel their weakness, and to numbers run, 
Themselves to strengthen, or themselves to shun ; 
But though to this our weakness may be prone, 
Let's learn to live, for we must die alone." 

After dinner, and the ladies having retired, one of 
the company addressed the party figuratively and 
flowery, and closed by saying he should offer a sen- 
timent, which he hoped no one present would refuse 
to drink, — " ships, colonies, and commerce." All 
eyes were turned on J. S. ; he was ready. I can- 
not acknowledge it, he said, exactly in the accepta- 
tion with which Planters receive it : " let ships 
spread their sails, let commerce double itself, but 
the colonies must be free." Then came the clash 
of words ; when " Greek meets Greek, then comes 
the tug of war;" forthwith they began " vi et 
armis" to defend their ee peculiar institutions," 
and to scotch the " spy" in their own waters \ 
the odds were considerable, J. S. standing alone ; 
nevertheless, I presume his arguments were con- 
clusive, as he had no other such opportunity 
during my stay at Berbice. 

The weather is very wet ; the salt at table is like 
paste ; and in the night the rain is very dis- 
turbing ; my bed is just under the shingles, and 



7*2 LKTTERS FROM 

when it pours, if I were outside, it would not 
startle me more. New Amsterdam has its news- 
papers, and I have read the following in the last 
Berbice Gazette; it contains a report of some 
sentences just passed at the Barbadoes Court :— 
" One white soldier killed another from provoca- 
tion ; he was sentenced to six month's imprison- 
ment. An apprentice broke into a cellar, and 
took a bundle of fire wood ; he was sentenced 
to two years imprisonment, and to be flogged 
thrice ; thirty- six lashes each time ; and this 
the whites call even handed justice, and yet 
these poor apprentices do all the work; no 
whites can ever do it. The poor blacks ought 
to be protected ; it is their right. Whether 
they ever will be properly treated no one can 
say; but the morel see of their arduous duties 
in this torrid sultry clime, the more oppressed 
my mind becomes, under a sense of their griev- 
ous hardships and degradation. Whites here 
take very little exercise, except with horse 
or gig ; as we have no conveyance, I walk a 
little daily- Dr. H. says I shall have fever ; but 
where novelty is on every side, one cannot im- 
prison oneself ; yet a little distance goes a great 
way ; two miles is wearying, four exhausting ; 
whereas in England, I have walked twenty-five 
miles over Derbyshire Hill and Middleton Vale 
without sitting down. Horses are spirited here, 
they are kept well on oats and grass; and on this 
plan appear in health, with fine glossy coats, 



THE WEST INDIES. 73 

which never become rough and long; there is 
another cause for their mettle, in the stable and 
out, they are tormented with musquitoes and flies, 
which act like spurs on every available part; their 
bodies are protected partly by netting, but their 
misery is great in Demerara: they are not so 
much tormented in the islands. Sheep are forlorn 
objects, losing all their wool, and the cattle in 
general are very scraggy ; the long grass which is 
so abundant, is sour and unpalatable : when they 
feed on cane tops they thrive. This colony de- 
pends on the States for flour and corn, and owing 
to the scarcity there, it is very dear. Horses are 
also imported in considerable numbers. 

This is the Sabbath, as well as new year's 
day ; Christmas, and consequently the first of 
the new year, falling on Sabbath days, during 
our abode in Demerara, has conduced to medi- 
tation ; the present one has been an interesting 
occasion at J. Wray's Missionary Chapel. There 
is only one building as a Church here at present, 
besides the Dutch and Missionary Chapels ; a 
consequence is, that the Episcopalians have it 
one Sabbath, and the Presbyterians another ; this 
harmony will soon be ended, as the foundation of 
a new Episcopal Church will be laid next week. 
There are four religious denominations in Deme- 
rara supported by the Government, — Episcopal, 
Presbyterian, Dutch, and Catholic ; the Ministers 
of each of which receive five hundred pounds 
sterling, I believe, per annum. 

L 



74 LETTERS FROM 

8th. Soon after coming here we received a 
kind invitation from a planter of Dutch extraction. 
Van Rossum ; he possesses two estates, one a few 
miles up the river, De Kindren (or the children) 
and the Edwards, where he resides, nearly op- 
posite our lodgings. He is a man of fine literary- 
talent, and had been secretary to a former Go- 
vernor, but for some time has been in difficulties, 
owing to his benevolence in purchasing the 
Edwards'; this estate had been long uncultivated 
and run wild; but the negros were upon it, 
and to prevent their being sold, and separated 
wives from reputed husbands, he bought it and 
them. The ferry belongs to the estate, and the 
negros now only work the ferry boat ; the con- 
sequence has been he could not meet his engage- 
ments. His creditors threatened to sell the 
negros ; he clung to them like children and pre- 
vented it ; however, they took possession of the 
De Kindren, a very profitable coffee estate, net- 
ting about five thousand pounds per annum ; and 
have held it a few years, till their claims were 
liquidated, which has recently taken place. V. 
R. has a large family, and they have resided at De 
Kindren; but he has never been there since the 
trustees got possession, having buried himself 
at the Edwards', with one son as a companion. 
I went over a few days ago to breakfast, believing 
I was on a visit to first rate quarters. I walked 
into the hall, was cordially welcomed, and sat down 
to breakfast ; we were waited upon by an almost 



THE WEST INDIES. JD 

naked black girl. V. R. apologised, said he could 
not clothe his negros, the trustees had taken 
every thing out of his power ; and if he had not 
obtained a little money from the ferry, and caught 
fish, and employed a good hunter, an Indian, he 
must have famished, often depending for a dinner 
on fish or game he might obtain in the morning. 
After a scanty breakfast he took me up into his 
study, and read and talked to me seven hours 
successively, viz., till dinner time. He has oc- 
cupied himself in this way during his absence 
from his family, writing long dispatches to Lord 
Glenelg, Sir Robert Peel, and Fowell Bux- 
ton, Esq.: the character of these writings is that of 
benevolence ; they have literary merit, and are 
spiced here and there with ancient lore. His 
conversation ran upon the overwhelming evils 
of the apprenticeship ; and when speaking of 
Mingo he was much affected. "Mingo's," said 
he, " is a sad tale ; he was torn from Africa when 
a boy ; was an apprentice on the Blair Mount 
estate, Berbice ; much prized for his good quali- 
ties, and for good conduct and religious pro- 
gress, was deacon in J. Wray's Chapel. The 
manager of the estate wished him to be head man, 
id est, driver ; in which capacity he would be the 
flogger of the negros, when sentenced to the 
punishment : on this ground he refused ; said he 
was willing to work in the penal gang, or do any 
menial service, but he could not flog his fellow- 
workmen : for disobedience the Special Magistrate 



76 LETTERS FROM 

sentenced him to imprisonment and a flogging of 
twenty lashes ; he was again ordered to drive the 
gang, again refused, again underwent the same sen- 
tence ; was again ordered to be driver, again ob- 
jected, was again flogged, and this was repeated till 
he had been flogged five times ; at last the Special 
Magistrate became so enraged, he said he should 
be flogged as long as the apprenticeship lasted, 
every time he was brought up. Short sighted man ! 
soon after these expressions he went over to New 
Amsterdam, and on returning died of apoplexy ; 
but the tale of horror remains.* Our time passed 
in my listening to the afflictions of the distressed 
negros, till dinner was announced at five p. m. 
After dinner Van Rossum kindly invited me to 
the study again ; I had had more than a feast, 
and declined; and would not be persuaded to 
enter it any more. V. R. kindly offered to go 
on with his papers, but I proposed a walk to the 
Missionary, T. Howe, son-in-law to J. Wray, 
whose abode and Chapel was not more than 
half a mile distance in the woods, on the land 
road to George Town, which is near sixty miles 
long, running through the different estates. In dry 
weather the road is pleasant, but has the incon- 
venience of crossing three rivers, named creeks ; 
the Mahaica, Mahaicony, and Abary. Where 
we walked, it was simply a grass road, cleared of 

* J. Scoble has since visited the estate, and conversed with 
Mingo, and is able to supply all the details; my account is 
simply the heads of the offending. 



THE WEST INDIES. 77 

trees ; we reached T. Howe's cottage adjoining 
his Chapel at dusk ; he was gone to bed ; but soon 
came down and apologised, saying he was not 
strong, and that they retired early to avoid the 
necessity of lighting candles, which attracted the 
musquitoes \ it was cheering to sit and .converse 
with a pious man, at this mission station, em- 
bowered in the woods : a cane field was before 
the door, and deep solitude around.* After 
saying farewell, we walked pensively homeward, 
till I was aroused by the gaily nippers, which 
easily penetrated my Berlin gloves, and carried 
on their trumpeting assaults availably against my 
face and neck. On reaching V. R's. residence, I 
retired to bed, which had no net ; the knowledge 
of this at once destroyed the faculty of sleeping, 
and well it was so, or I might have been blind 
by the morning ; morning was never more wel- 
come to me. 

" Lovely indeed is morning ; I have drank 
Its fragrance and its freshness, and have felt 
Its delicate touch ; and 'tis a kindlier thing 
Than music, or a feast, or medicine." 

After breakfast V. R. sent his Indian hunter to 
shoot me some parrots ; and accompanied by some 
of his apprentices, we went net fishing, near 

* This devoted interesting Missionary, and his venerable 
father-in-law, J. Wray, died a few months after, near together, 
of the yellow fever*. 



78 LETTERS FROM 

Crab Island : we were not successful, and e're we 
returned the tide was at its height, covering the 
muddy shore : at this time the galdings and 
curries have to perch on branches ; we shot one 
of the latter : (this perching was an adaptation of 
habit to necessity, for European curlews I believe 
never settle on trees :) the plumage of the one shot 
was brown ; these birds not acquiring their scarlet 
colour till the second year : on going amongst the 
mangroves to pick it up, the negros having no co- 
vering on their backs could not endure the sand 
flies ; (these are small as midges and very prevalent 
on the coast;) but smacked their hands against 
their naked bodies in all directions. When again 
at some distance from the trees, we were rid of 
the annoyance. The Indian hunter was awaiting 
our return with two green parrots, one of which 
had lacerated his finger severely with a bite. I 
looked upon him with interest, as he stood in his 
independent attitude almost naked before us. The 
Dutch have treated the Indians very kindly from 
their first occupation of the soil, and this red 
man had been V. R.'s hunter for many years, 
having forsaken his tribe. The English have 
pursued a more hard hearted . policy. I now 
parted from my kind host, and recrossed the 
ferry. V. R. is certainly eccentric ; his mind 
appeared to me in a state of conflict, pressed down 
with a consciousness of the negros' sufferings* 
and though rather incommoded by his zeal on 



THE WEST INDIES. J9 

their behalf, I felt deeply convinced that Christian 
benevolence was the main spring of his actions, 
and could not but wish there were more English 
and Scotch, like the eccentric Van Rossum. 

I remain, &c. 



80 LETTERS FROM 



LETTER VII. 

New Amsterdam, Berbice River, 1st. Month, \Sth., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

The space of one week in the West Indies 
brings many occurrences which would interest 
thee. I can only mention the most prominent. 
I am desirous that my unfinished pictures should, 
as far as the colouring goes, at least be true ; 
"magna est Veritas, et prcevalebit ;" but this is 
a land of contradictions, and soon as a fact has 
been engrafted in the mind, by the reasoning of 
what seems indubitable authority, it is shaken 
and unsettled by another, equally convinced of his 
own assertions: pro exemplo. Dr. B., of George 
Town, assured me the Negros were very partial to 
salt-fish, and that it was necessary for their health; 
and as a proof of nature's requiring, I observed 
even whites, however pampered, still retained a 
relish for it ; and it forms a standing dish at 
all well supplied breakfast tables. Since coming 
here we have been introduced to two Special 
Magistrates, who boldly affirm the Negros do not 
like salt, and from choice never eat it ; as proof 
of which, said one of them, the prisoners of the 



THE WEST INDIES. 81 

gaol are not allowed salt.* These two specials 
also say if the apprentices have task work, which 
they can do in five hours, they will be eleven over 
it, because they like the sun on their bare backs. 
I am witness that they have the sun on their bare 
backs, yes, for eleven hours successively; but I 
heard no expression of joy on the occasion. 
There is at the present time a gang at work near 
our lodgings, digging a main canal ; I have 
walked several times to see them, and am as- 
tonished at their hardihood ; throwing out the 
mud, knee deep in water. I conversed with 
them ; as they spake the Dutch patois, it was 
not very intelligible. I learnt, however, that they 
had no enjoyment in it, but that they felt borne 
down ; they said they were in the ditch twelve 
hours, and went not home from morn till night. 
As a day's work under the Imperial Act is seven 
and-a-half hours, they may have exaggerated \ 
however I was satisfied as to their enjoyment of a 

* J S. after my departure investigated this circumstance 
at the gaol, and found it to be true, that the prisoners had not 
salt, but that it was a most cruel withholding of a very ne- 
cessary article. J. S. exposed this treatment, and had the 
satisfaction of knowing before he left the colony, that it 
was again supplied to the prisoners. One of these Special 
Magistrates, previously to his appointment, held a responsi- 
ble situation under Government, as Protector of the In- 
dians, and this I believe is still continued to him : thus it 
is evident the Government Protector of the Indians sanctioned 
the withholding of salt from the poor prisoners in the gaol 
at Berbice, although it is declared necessary for their health 
by the medical faculty. 
M 



82 



LETTERS FROM 



tropical sun on the bare back system, and much 
pitied them ; feeling exhausted myself, though 
under the shade of an umbrella, when standing 
still. 

This morning I attended divine service at J. 
Wray's Chapel ; it was solemn and impressive, 
" cujus etiam a lingua, melle dulcior Jiuebat 
sermo." I looked around upon the "goods and 
chattels/' so called, and saw "fellow man" stamped 
on their foreheads. Nearly all the hearers were 
blacks, in their white Sabbath dresses ; patient 
auditors they were, listening to gospel truths ; 
whilst the free winds of heaven, circulating 
through the chapel, drove forward the " light 
buxom air" to refresh us. The time I hoped was 
nigh when they would be as free as the air which 
they breathed, notwithstanding their masters 
("felices in sua errore") continually repeat their 
favoured argument, — will you break faith with us, 
and set at nought a most solemn compact, when 
all is working so well ; but if human laws work 
so well, doubtless the divine laws will work still 
better ; suppose we try. I remarked one un- 
tidy individual, a white sailor without coat or 
stockings on, yet he walked up to the very top of 
the meeting as if conscious of superior worth. 

J. Wrav is a Missionary patriarch; is connected 
with the London Missionary Society ; the oldest 
in the West Indies, and has been out nearly thirty 
years, and first settled in George Town. At that 
time there was no minister, except a Dutchman, 



THE WEST INDIES. 83 

who seldom or never officiated ; neither was there 
any regular place of worship. After establishing 
that mission he removed to New Amsterdam, 
where he found the same neglect, and the same 
want. He has lived to see the Episcopal, Pres- 
byterian, Roman Catholic, and Dutch Churches 
liberally supported by the Government in each 
town, the ministers of which have houses free from 
all payments, and a very liberal annual income. As 
regards this town, these ministers have no Sab- 
bath or day schools; whereas J. Wray is just 
completing a new school, which is to be open to 
all sects. On Sabbath days he has for long had 
scholars at his Chapel from ten to eleven A. m. ? 
and from three to five p. m. ; and the only monied 
favour extended to this worthy minister, has been 
an exemption from rates; yet will it be believed that 
at this very hour he is threatened with prosecu- 
cution if he does not pay the demand of the tax- 
gatherer.* J. Wray has seen Slavery in all its 
horrors, when the public sales were accompanied 
with public floggings if the negros showed any 
obstinacy. He now hopes to see the day when 
this incongruous apprenticeship shall lie down 
with Slavery side by side, fac- similes as they are. 
He has no doubt as to the negros' fitness for in- 
stantaneous freedom. He has long beheld a lucid 
proof of their fitness in the Winkle negros ; (so 
named, I believe, from an estate they were for- 

* J. S. informs me the prosecution has been withdrawn, 



84 LETTERS FROM 

merly attached to;) these were liberated by the 
English Government on taking possession of the 
Colony, and live at the edge of the town, in a 
village appropriated to them. It has been the 
practice to vilify and traduce these descendants of 
Africa, but through evil report they maintain 
their ground as loyal subjects, and worthy mem- 
bers of society ; and J. Wray says when the 
new barracks, a few years since, were to be built 
at Berbice, no one was found so competent in 
plans, et cet., as a Winkle negro; and now being 
finished, they are acknowledged to be equal to any 
in the West Indies ; and also so noted are the 
women for economy and good management, that 
when a tradesman or Planter wants a thrifty 
housekeeper, his first inquiry is for a Winkle 
negress. 

" Then let not censure, with malignant joy, 
The harvest of their humble hopes destroy." 

Facts like these ought to carry conviction along 
with them ; they prove that the necessity of the 
apprenticeship has been argued for upon fallacious 
grounds. Slavery may be compared to a torrent, 
which overwhelms all the beautiful flowers which 
would ornament a less deep and impetuous 
course ; would you wish them again to appear, 
do not waste time by placing Special Magistrates 
to protect them from further injury ; no, at once 
let off the destroying waters, and the blushing 
petals will bloom of their accord. Thus remove 



THE WEST INDIES. 85 

the curse of Slavery from the negro, and his 
moral and intellectual worth shall show them- 
selves ; they shall adorn his character with an 
integrity sufficient to silence the bitterness of dis- 
appointed tyranny : fiat justitia, ruat caelum. 

According to appointment, in the early part 
of last week, we visited the De Kindren estate 
a few miles up the river, accompanied by Van 
Rossum, the proprietor ; he would not go to it 
whilst in the hands of trustees, but now that the 
claims against him are liquidated, he had re- 
solved to introduce us to his family, to see how 
his apprentices were going on, and in fact to 
reinstate himself as (i magister domi." He sent 
down for his eight- oared barge, and about noon, 
V. R., J. S., and myself, were seated in the cabin, 
with eight lusty blacks as oars- men. The size 
of the boat, and the length of the oars enabled 
them to row in a maimer which amused us ; they 
all stood up on the rowing seats, and at a signal, 
splash went their oars, and down went their 
bodies ; as the oars swept through the water, the 
negros assumed an horizontal position, almost 
lying flat, then up they sprang again, balanced their 
oars with one hand, waved the other arm around 
in various evolutions, till the true time came for 
dipping the oars and lowering their bodies. After 
conversing awhile, we asked V. R. to permit the 
negros to row according to their own "taste;" 
they at once accompanied their movement with 
a wild chorus, which added much interest to the 



86 LETTERS FROM 

scene. Negros are in no wise convinced of the 
adage, " ' namque tacere tutum semper erit ;" they 
prefer exercising the faculty of speech. I had 
previously noticed in going over the ferry, that 
one of the rowers would soliloquise the wind, and 
the water ; making at the same time movements 
with his hand, as if the objects he was addressing 
understood him. 

On reaching De Kindren, the family were wait- 
ing to receive us, and a more interesting one 
could not well be. Mrs. R. graced the inter- 
view with her ease and politeness : two sons grown 
up, and two daughters in their teens were present ; 
the tropical sun had sapped the roses, and delicate 
lilies occupied their place, watched over by gently 
expressive languishing eyes, and crowned with 
the charm of Creole elegance and grace. V. R. once 
more rid of the "res angusta domi" was delighted 
to be again restored to his family, and the day 
fled in harmless hilarity and joy. The house is 
prettily situated one hundred yards from the river, 
with an avenue of cabbage palms before it. After 
sun down, V. R. and I walked out along the main 
canal, into the coffee plantation ; ere we were 
far from the great house, a negro overtook us, 
and conversed earnestly with his master in Dutch, 
pointing to the moon. V. R. said we must re- 
trace our steps ; and told me the purport of the 
conversation, viz., his negro advised us to turn 
back, that the moon was now up, and it was not 
safe for us to expose ourselves to its rays, and 



THE WEST INDIES. 87 

the falling dews ; this trait of kindness was not 
lost upon us, we did so ; and made a few calls 
amongst the invalids in the negro village, who 
were truly glad once more to see their master. 

Night's silent "Wanderer, O tell me whence ! 

Is thy mysterious, secret power, intense ; 

Thou dost to all things, smilingly impart, 

Appropriate charms, although but one thou art ; 

The dusk of eve, is more mysterious now, 

And bending twigs, more lowly seem to bow ; 

Noises are nearer, louder is the tone, 

Of " Who are you," and " Whip poor Willy's"* moan ; 

And yet moreover, silence seems more still, 

As if possessing every power at will : 

A lover's grief, and then a lover's boon, 

Some do believe are measured by the moon. 

If an eccentric man, has one screw loose, 

Then thy full orb makes him a greater goose : 

And more than this, when sailors are asleep, 

Thou dost their eyes in fatal darkness steep ; 

When they awake, they cannot Phoebus find, 

But stand amazed to find themselves moon-blind. 

The next morning early, V. R. and I walked 
through the coffee plantation ; the trees are in 
rows, the size of large currant bushes , and shaded 
by the forest trees which are left at proper dis- 
tances, for this purpose; the blossom is white 
and fragrant as the jessamine, and the fruit is 
the size and colour of a cherry, pleasant to the 
taste : inside the pulp are two seeds, which are 
the coffee berries ; when ripe it is gathered, and 
carried to the pulping mill ; the seeds are next 

* Two species of the genus, ( caprimulgus ) or goatsucker. 



OS LETTERS FROM 

spread on a flagged space, (the barbecue,) to dry 
in the sun ; when dried, the seeds are pressed 
under revolving perpendicular rollers, to separate 
the husks, then winnowed similarly to corn ; the 
decayed and imperfect berries are next picked 
out ; the coffee is packed in tierces, and shipped 
off. On account of the richness of the soil, there 
are here two crops in the year : the gatherings 
are in the fifth and ten months. On the trees were 
ripe berries, the succeeding green berries, and 
abundance of blossom perfuming the air. The 
produce varies as the size of the trees, from one 
to three pounds ; as, however, there are many 
thousands on a plantation, the whole return is 
large. From ripe berries dropping and growing, 
there are always sufficient of young trees coming 
on to replace dead or decayed ones. 

Though not an object for export from this 
estate, there were many flourishing chocolate trees 
(theobramo cacao :) the tree is compact and ele- 
gant, about twelve feet high ; and the fruit does 
not hang from the twigs, but grows directly out 
from the trunk, and larger stems ; it is in shape 
like a pine apple, but longer and more pyrami- 
dal ; the inside is filled with a luscious pulp and 
with seeds, which are the cocoa nibs of commerce. 
Plucking this large fruit is much less tedious than 
gathering coffee berries ; the inside pulp has a plea- 
sant acidulous flavour. We returned to the house 
about ten a. m. ; I was faint from the hot sun, 
and longed for an English breakfast ; as yet there 



THE WEST INDIES. 89 

were no signs but the table cloth. V. R. called 
his family together, and read his own composi- 
tion to us for one hour. It was an address he 
had prepared for the occasion, descriptive of his 
sufferings, of their duties, of Negro claims, and 
of his happy restoration to his paternal estate, 
et cet., et cet. He told us he had followed this 
practice of writing to his family during his ab- 
sence occasionally, that they might not feel for- 
saken. The sentiments on this occasion were 
generous and noble, and the composition talented, 
amounting to this : " Oh ! remember, that if I 
have fallen far short in duty, the measure of my 
love hath been full ;" but in my judgment both it 
and the breakfast were out of place. I did not 
recover my fatigue the whole day, and felt almost 
as great a dislike to the plantation walk and 
reading, as I did to the study] at the Edwards'. 
At eleven we sat down to an excellent breakfast of 
soup, meat, et cet. ; afterwards the apprentices were 
all admitted into the parlour to see their master ; it 
was a holiday for the purpose. He spoke to them 
one by one ; the conversation being in Dutch was 
lost to us, but the interview was affecting ; the 
apprentices had evidently been much neglected. 
V. R. saw that their appearance did not do credit 
to his wishes ; there were present of " the halt, 
the blind, and the lame;" their naked backs, and 
the mothers with naked infants, standing in the 
presence of V. R., his lady, and two daughters, 
formed a contrast which can only be met with in 

N 



90 LETTERS FROM 

the West Indies. V, R. never flogged a slave j 
never had a runaway ; yet his estate nets five 
thousand pounds per annum. During the day we 
examined the steam engine and the machinery 
attached; also the coffee loge, which is an exten- 
sive building, suitable for winnowing, picking, 
storing, and packing the coffee. Apprentices 
prefer living on coffee plantations, as they are 
freed from heavy field work, in grubbing cane 
holes ; and picking ripe coffee is not laborious 
under the shade of the forest trees. The fol- 
lowing morning we bid adieu to this interesting 
family, re-entered the boat, and were set down at 
the adjoining estate below, (the Brothers) where 
we breakfasted. The estate is under the manage- 
ment of a very agreeable intelligent young man, 
whom we had met at George Town. Estates 
have generally choice names ; thus — the three here 
adjoining, are Love, Children, Brothers, and nearer 
Berbice is Providence ; the mind can easily form a 
truism from these materials, as the following : — it 
is well for Children to be grateful to a kind Provi- 
dence, and to Love their Brothers. If all the ap- 
pliances of estates could be converted into profit- 
able axioms as easily as their sweet sounding 
names, it would be very gratifying. It happened 
to be court day for this and several adjoining 
estates ; after breakfast the manager from Love 
estate and others arrived, and their apprentices 
came forward to be tried. The Special Magis- 
trate took his seat, opened his case book, 



THE WEST INDIES. 



91 



and took down the depositions ; previous to this, 
the manager from Love had ridden off, having no 
love for J. S. ; he could say with William Penn, 
" I have seen thee, but d'ont like thee." The 
complaints brought forward were chiefly for neg- 
lect of work \ thus — one apprentice complained of 
illness, he was sent to Dr. H. at Amsterdam for 
his advice ; the doctor being out, he had to wait, 
and thus the day was lost. Some cases were de- 
ferred, and some of the punishments J. S. said 
were illegal, and boldly maintained his ground, 
though the court was sitting ; words were at one 
time quite high enough for my comfort. I was 
pleased with the behaviour of the apprentices ; 
their countenances were placid, whilst those of 
their accusers expressed malice and revenge. The 
negros made a good defence, from what I could 
judge, imperfectly understanding them. The ty- 
ranny of this apprenticeship is really detestable. 
The sick house on this estate was creditable; 
there was no prevalent disease amongst the 
,negros at that time; one poor woman was af- 
flicted with an ulcerative disease of the face. An 
arched vault before the front door attracted my 
attention. I imagined it covered a cistern ; but 
on a little door being opened, it disclosed two 
confined chambers, with just room to sit, and 
air enough to breathe, admitted from without ; 
these were the dark holes, not much used now 
that the negros are approaching the light of a 
better dav. 



92 LETTERS FROM 

We had an opportunity here of seeing the 
trooly leaf ; a schooner was unloading a cargo of 
them, it had brought from the Essequibo. 
Troolies grow on the banks of that river, spring- 
ing direct from the roots like sedges ; they are 
solid heavy leaves, twenty feet long and two 
broad, and are used for covering negro huts., 
et cet., answering two purposes, — that of ex- 
cluding the rain and the sun's rays ; which lat- 
ter, through a thin covering like shingles, make 
small apartments oppressively close. 

We were then kindly accommodated with a 
gig, and drove to Providence estate, where Mrs. 
W. was residing, it being the property of her 

son-in-law H. , who was also present. This 

is a noble sugar estate, exporting, if I am cor- 
rect, five hundred hogsheads per annum ; one 
rick of magass, stored up for fuel on this estate, 
was upwards of eighty yards long. Before dinner 
we walked to the extensive negro village, opposite 
the great house on the other side the road ; it 
forms three sides of a parallelogram; many of 
the cottages are new, with separate apartments. 
Mr. EL said he had never been into them before, 
but was evidently pleased with their creditable ap- 
pearance, and so were we. J. S. however remark- 
ed, "I have something also against thee ;" this 
something is the following : — Mr. H. bought Fri- 
bourg estate, with the apprentices ; he removed 
the apprentices to Over Winning, three and-a- 
half miles from Providence. Having obtained the 



THE WEST INDIES. 93 

apprentices, which was his object, he re- sold 
Fribourg ; he then wished them to walk three 
and- a- half miles to Providence, to work there, and 
return at night. Providence is a sugar estate ; 
they had been brought from a coffee estate ; and 
knowing this proceeding was contrary to the Im- 
perial Act, they refused to work. H. applied to 
the Special Magistrate; he could not help him. 
H. insists on his right, and has applied to the 
Governor, and here the matter rests.* 

Mr. H. also mentioned another annoyance ; he 
had lost a valuable apprentice; the man had pur- 
chased his liberty for forty pounds ; H. valued him 
at one hundred and fifty pounds. Now the negro 
had come into his possession since the Abolition 
Act by purchase ; of course he knew the man 
retained the power of redeeming himself. Sup- 
pose for a moment this negro had proved idle and 
worthless, how glad H. would have been to be 
released of him for twenty or thirty pounds. 
Planters by thus overvaluing the clever and up- 
right, and making it difficult for them to purchase 
their liberty, hold out a strong inducement for 
idleness and worthlessness. Amongst the negros 
at Providence I saw the disease termed yaws ; it 



* The Imperial Act forbids the removal of apprentices, ex- 
cept with the consent of two Justices, who must believe it to be 
for the benefit of the negros. Negros are strongly attached to 
their huts ; Van Rossum mentioned to me a case of an appren- 
tice, who had hung himself, to prevent his removal from one es- 
tate to another. 



94 LETTERS FROM 

attacks infants and young children ; is an eruptive 
disease not unlike small pox in its characters ; 
very infectious, and often fatal; there is some 
difficulty in the treatment of it, because infants 
cannot be separated from their mothers, and 
sent into the sick house. Some of the negros 
were busy making Cassava bread ; the meal was 
spread over a hot bake-stone without being formed 
into a paste ; in a short time it agglutinated to- 
gether, was turned, and taken off, in appearance 
like oat cake, forming a valuable article of diet; it is 
the root which is prepared. There are two species 
of Cassava, (jatropha ma?iihot,J one sweet, and 
one poisonous ; the poisonous matter exists in the 
juice or sap of the root ; this is expressed out after 
the root is crushed and grated 5 the liquor is not 
thrown away, but boiled, which destroys its noxi- 
ous qualities, and it then becomes a valuable article 
of trade, forming the chief ingredient in the cele- 
brated Dutch pepper pot : this is a conglomerated 
savoury dish of different meats and spices ; it is 
brought to table in an iron pot with a ladle, and is 
thus used as a seasoning for other things. The 
pepper pot's glory is, in never being exhausted, 
fresh additions supplying the continual waste ; 
these additions are not made known : a little 
monkey is said to be connected with the true 
pepper pot principle : and I understand there are 
Dutch petter pots in the colony which are never 
exhausted, having been restored by fresh re- 
newals from the time the colony was established. 



THE WEST INDIES. 95 

From the materials of the pepper pot not being 
generally known, a joke is current, that a mon- 
key's head makes part and parcel of the same. 
Negros are remarkable for their skill in the art 
cuisine, without the needful requisites. A wooden 
tub, pestle, and two or three platters, being 
sufficient. The kitchen at our lodgings, in Sta- 
broek, had the appearance of a blacksmith's shop; 
with the same kind of fire hearth, and not a 

plate visible. Dr. B told me he bought all 

the culinary apparatus of Dr. S for twenty-. 

one shillings, when the latter sold his moveables, 
previous to a visit to England. 

After dining sociably with Mrs. W, and some of 
her children, and enjoying her conversation, we 
returned again to our lodgings. An interesting 
occurrence has taken place here : four slaves, car- 
penters, from Surrinam, have made their escape 
across the Corantyn river, and succeeded in reach- 
ing Berbice after grievous hardships. They ap- 
plied to Mr. C. for tickets of freedom ; being on 
English territory, these were granted to them, 
and they were quickly engaged at one dollar each 
per diem : this was not preferring idleness to la- 
bour, though a day before they were degraded 
slaves. They said numbers would escape, but the 
Dutch cordon being very watchful rendered it diffi- 
cult. One of them was much injured from ill-treat- 
ment whilst a slave. All the community seemed 
to rejoice in the happy change of circumstances for 
these negros : and we felt proud of our country; 



96 LETTERS FROM 

though near four thousand miles distant from the 
seat of government. 

The apprentices suffer here from a cause which 
ought to be remedied. There has been a scarcity 
of silver coin ; (and copper coin is not used ;) 
the store-keepers and planters to meet the want, 
have circulated bits of paper, from three stivers 
upwards, made payable at the stores ; the sig- 
nature is soon effaced in this climate, and then 
it is said, the parties refuse taking the paper up ; 
and when an individual dies, there is the same 
difficulty with the trustees, as occurred in the case 
of — — . It is the custom to pay the apprentices 
for over time, with these defaced scraps of paper ; 
the negros having no clothes on, have no pockets 
for its safety ; and enclosed in the hand, all 
vestige of writing is soon lost ; if they take it 
home, it is very liable to be displaced; and thus 
the poor apprentices, after laborious work, are 
paid with trash, which really represents nothing. 
This paper is in daily circulation ; I have some of 
it by me, and I am confident no Birmingham mer- 
chant could tell what it is. Money in British 
Guiana is estimated in Dutch currency, con- 
joined with Spanish ; fifteen stivers, one guilder ; 
three guilders, one dollar ; twenty-two guilders, 
one joe; sixteen dollars, one doubloon. 'The 
pound currency is twelve shillings sterling. 



THE WEST INDIES. 97 

George Town, 1st, Month 20th. 
A few days since I left J. S. at Berbice, and 
returned to George Town, on my way to Bar- 
badoes, that I may avail myself of my letter of 
credit. Our experience was similar to Dr. Mad- 
den's : "We found the fat of our own land 
oozing out at our fingers' ends, and the acquisi- 
tion of the fat of the new land, draining our 
purses, with wonderful quickness to their bottoms. " 
J. S. became deeply interested in several inves- 
tigations, and wished to devote a little more time 
to them ; he hopes to join me at Barbadoes, and 
thence we proceed to Jamaica, to meet Joseph 
Sturge, who was disappointed at our tarriance in 
Demerara beyond six weeks, as at first proposed.* 
I had not an agreeable passage back to George Town 
in the dispatch boat ; as it conveyed one of the 
Judges, and he chose to have the cabin to him- 
self ; but happily we came by day; if it had been 
otherwise, the night would have been spent most 
unpleasantly, in the hold of the vessel, amongst 
cock roaches, which towards evening had fine 
runnings and scamperings. I have paid my fare- 
well visit to J. Ketley, and to the Southeys, 

* Soon after, I left George Town, for Barbadoes, the quaran- 
tine laws, on account of. small pox> prevented admission at 
the latter place; and afterwards the yellow fever broke out in 
Demerara, which continued them. J. S. had no other alter- 
native than staying in Demerara; though his friends were 
falling around him, he was favoured with tolerable health, and 
some months afterwards embarked direct for Bristol, and 
reached home in safety. 
o 



y» LETTERS FROM 

whose kindness is indelibly impressed on my 
mind. Herbert Southey kindly procured me 
some specimens in Ornithology ; the only return 
I could make was to set up a few specimens for him, 
as mementos of my visit. The noisiest bird in 
George Town is a species of fly-catcher, (musci- 
capa cay anensis,) from its note, called kis-ke-dis ; 
it is as lively as the English sparrow; flitting about, 
and repeating the three syllables in a very distinct, 
shrill tone ; its plumage is elegant, back brown, 
crown and breast yellow : the most numerous is the 
black witch, its plumage accords with its name, 
its tale is long, like the English magpie ; the upper 
mandible rises as high as the crown of the head, 
tapering to a sharp edge ; its flight is a jerk from 
one bush to another ; and its note is a melancholy 
whine, something like the name. It feeds upon 
lizards and worms, and therefore is seldom mo- 
lested ; consequently is very tame, allowing the 
stranger to approach within a couple of yards. I 
had not the opportunity of seeing any wild animals, 
except the three-toed sloth, which is in my pos- 
session, the acouri, and a species of crabo dago, 
or crab dog. Butterflies are numerous, but the 
red ants quickly destroyed some I procured; 
these insects swarm up stairs and down : no 
sooner is any thing eatable laid by, than they 
assemble from all quarters, an innumerable host. 
Exactly contrary to musquitoes, they attack the 
dead, the latter the living. 

The Governor's secretary granted me a passport 






THE WEST INDIES. 99 

without advertising, on payment of the fee ; and 
my departure for Barbadoes is at hand. I shall 
carry forward this letter to put in the Post Office 
at Bridge Town. 

Since returning from Berbice, another ball has 
been given near my lodgings and the second edition 
was quite equal to the first, in the very piercing 
and deep sounding notes which the negros supplied 
throughout the night, to every page of occurring 
incident. The invitations are pretty general, so 
that families may go to the fountain head of 
bustle and confusion, and avoid having the dis- 
turbance, as it were, second hand, at their own 
dwellings. 

Barbadoes, 1st. Month, 27th. 

The Mary Elizabeth schooner, brought me 
safely here in a little more than three days ; I am 
not yet sailor enough to be sickless in a schooner ; 
the pitching is so continuous, that my stomach 
keeps time, and heaves with emotion ; however, 
I rallied and much enjoyed the sight of purer 
waters. Green seas are very refreshing to the eye 
in a tropical climate ; not so the discoloured 
streams on the main : the Demerara and Berbice 
rivers, conveyed to my mind an impression of 
molten metal, or liquid fire ; and had no power 
of tempering my heated blood. 

I learn that Joseph Sturge, and Thomas 
Harvey have proceeded to Jamaica, unable to wait 
longer for us. I shall follow them, though not 

L.ofC, 



100 LETTERS FROM 

directly, wishing to see a little of some other 
islands, on my way. As the mail is making up 
I must conclude. 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 101 



LETTER VIII. 

Barbadoes, 1st. Month, 29th., 1837, 

My Dear F— — -r. 

I have spent several days agreeably on this 
island, in complimentary appellation frequently 
called " Little England/' being the nearest to 
the mother country, and having adopted many of 
its customs ; the oldest colony, and of undoubted 
loyalty ; healthy in character, and the most ad- 
vanced in cultivation, by a successful rotation of 
crops. The beasts of burthen on the estates are 
chiefly oxen, they are small and remarkably lean ; 
numbers supply the place of bulk and size. Twelve 
oxen, yoked to a huge unwieldly wagon, is a 
common sight in Bridge Town ; the employment 
of them on plantations has answered where prac- 
tised. Cane fields have to be prepared similar to 
the drill culture of fields for turnips : the soil is 
hoed, or ploughed up, into straight deep ridges. 
When planted the cane joints are placed in the 
furrows, and lightly covered over. Cane holes is r 
therefore, a wrong term ; and it is ridging the field 
with heavy hoes, (termed digging cane holes) which 
has greatly oppressed the negros. This operation 



102 LETTERS FROM 

can be well performed by cattle, and when free 
labour succeeds to forced, will, I hope, be more 
generally adopted. We entered Carlisle Bay, 
from Demerara, at mid-day ; having, during our 
approach, a fine view of the island ; the ground 
rises gradually behind Bridge Town ; is sprinkled 
with white houses, and ornamented with strag- 
gling cocoa and cabbage palms ; the surface had 
lost the green hue, which graced it a few weeks 
before. It was now harvest time, and many canes 
had been cut; the brown hue of the country con- 
trasted unfavourably with the endless green of De- 
merara. In vegetation Demerara is vastly superior 
to Barbadoes, but as to its waters equally inferior. 
Round these coral shores, they are of a deep deep 
blue, refreshing to the eye and invigorating to the 
spirits ; down by those muddy banks, they are 
browner than the " heathery hill," and impurer 
than old "Father Thames." It delighted me again 
to behold the tropical blue sea : in the tropics a 
European eye wishes to indulge its vision on 
nature's gayer scenes, to feed upon beauties 
wherever it may wander ; whether ascending to 
the heavens above, or descending to the waters 
beneath. The Sabbath after my return, I heard 
Bishop Coleridge preach a charity sermon on 
behalf of the education of coloured children ; he 
evidently spoke from a pious heart, and it was 
congenial to my feelings, to know this interesting 
portion of the rising generation had so able an 
advocate. We ought to rejoice in education being 



THE WEST INDIES. 103 

encouraged ; how different it is in the American 
slave- states. As the children went by to Church, 
I was conversing with a young American, from 
Savannah, in Georgia, who is here for his health ; 
"education/" said he, "is forbidden, as regards the 
negros, with us ; and if a white man opened a 
Sunday School, or supported a day one at his 
own expense, he would be imprisoned and tried ; 
and for the second offence banished, or possibly 
hung." 

Through my intelligent acquaintance P , I 

became acquainted with several colored gentlemen 
of acquirement and talent. At times the conversa- 
tion was painfully interesting, proving the strong 
bias of colonial management to be very partial, in 
favour of the whites ; the disposal of the grant 
from Parliament, for the hurricane of 1831, had 
been unsatisfactory. This grant, I understood, 
was one hundred thousand pounds, of which 
seventy thousand pounds were allotted to Barba- 
does : it is said, that the party intrusted, wrote 
home, desirous of knowing how it was to be dis- 
posed of: the reply from Government was, bestow it 
on the poor and destitute : after this the distri- 
bution took place ; thirty-eight thousand pounds 
were therefore allotted to dilapidated churches, 
et cet., and the remainder, or the greater part, 
divided amongst wealthy planters : that such an 
appropriation is accordant with the literal mean- 
ing of poor and destitute is yet doubted. I visited 
one of the schools for coloured children, in company 



104 LETTERS FROM 

with T. H , who kindly drove me along the 

bay towards the fort, and round by the barracks, 
which are delightfully situated a mile from the 
town on elevated ground. Carlisle Bay, with its 
pure blue waters, spreads out below, enlivened 
with sufficient shipping to vary the scene, and to 
give it the character of a maritime port. On 
another occasion I dined in company with an 
elderly gentleman, who had abstained from all 
fermented liquors for many years ; this was an in- 
teresting fact in the tropics, where there is such a 
prejudice against pure water ; brandy, madeira 
wine, London porter, and Scotch ale being in re- 
pute. My experience in this matter, as regards 
the tropics is, where there is delicacy of consti- 
tution, wine need only be used as a medicinal 
adjunct ; and, where the constitution is vigorous, 
total abstinence may be safely and advantageously 
practised. 

Bridge Town and the neighbourhood show many 
evidences of the last fearful hurricane in roofless 
houses and shattered tenements; from this liability, 
no spires gracefully shoot on high, the cathedral 
only having a low square tower. The hurricanes 
take place in the 7th, 8th and 9th months; on these 
occasions ships try to get to sea, the bay lying so 
open and exposed, they are otherwise in danger of 
stranding on the shore, which north of the town is 
composed of broken coral and madrepore. I had 
also here the first opportunity of examining a 
wind mill crushing canes ; for this purpose there 



THE WEST INDIES. 105 

are three perpendicular rollers, one being in the 
centre ; the fresh cane is drawn in between two, 
and by a screen behind, the magass is directed 
between the other two edges, and falls down be- 
fore the door to be carried away ; the feeding only 
occupies one pair of hands ; the carrying cane into 
the mill several. Barbadoes is noted for its ex- 
cellent quality of sugar, owing to the superior 
cultivation and care in its manufacture ; on the 
other hand, sugars from Demerara are in general 
coarse in quality. Bridge Town derives its name 
from a bridge over a small stream, which here 
empties itself into the bay ;. the wharfs extend up 
to the bridge, alongside which sloops and vessels of 
small burden are moored ; row boats are always 
waiting for hire, whilst others are going to or re- 
turning from ships in the bay ; so that the scene is 
lively. The author of " The Wanderings" makes 
the following observation : — ie There was another 
thing which added to the dulness of Barbadoes, 
and which seems to have considerable effect in 
keeping away strangers from the island. The le- 
gislature had passed a most extraordinary bill, by 
virtue of which every person who arrives at Bar- 
badoes is obliged to pay two dollars, and two 
dollars more on his departure from it. It is called 
the Alien Bill ; and every Barbadian who leaves 
or returns to the island, and every Englishman 
too, pays the tax." The money on leaving is 
paid for the passport ; the amount is of less conse- 
quence than the time requisite to procure it, the 
p 



106 LETTERS FROM 

name of the party applying having to be advertised 
three weeks. My young American friend only 
intending to stay one week on the island, called 
upon the Governor's Secretary, and was told he 
could not have a passport in less than three weeks ; 
the consequence was, he went amongst the vessels 
in the bay, to find some American captain to be- 
friend him, and succeeded. My intention was 
only to stay a few days ; and this three weeks 
showing up in the newspapers prevented my ap- 
plying for a passport ; I thought my Demerara 
one might be made to answer. 

Every law passed for general application, and 
which can never apply, is ridiculous ; this is one. 
All passengers by the mail packet staying a night 
or two on their way to other islands, set it at 
nought, and yet the captains of the vessels by 
which they leave subject themselves to a penalty. 

I did not visit the gaol again, my curiosity was 
over indulged on a previous occasion ; the scenes 
of that day were often before me, and too strongly 
impressed ever to be erased. 

St. Thomas, c 2nd Month, 10th. 

The northern mail boat by which I left Barba- 
does had been in quarantine on account of small 
pox in some of the northern islands, where it had 
touched on its previous voyage. In embarking, 
myself and others were exchanged from the health 
officers' boat, to that of the mail boat which came 
to meet us, and thus a step as it were placed us 
under the ban of prohibition. In the one boat we 






THE WEST INDIES. 107 

were esteemed healthy and fit company for the 
Barbadians ; in the other we were denounced as of 
the infected, and the governor himself could not 
have restored us to the shore till we had fulfilled 
our quarantine, so sudden is the change of situa- 
tion in this eventful life ; however the anchor was 
quickly raised apeak, and away we went, hoping 
to meet with friendly sills and floors, though 
" little England" closed her coral doors. 

I left Barbadoes in company with a captain of 
engineers, his lady and servant, and another gen- 
tleman, for St. Kitt's ; two gentlemen on their 
way to Porto Rico, who had come out by the last 
mail packet, and who did not choose to await its 
onward route. The Falmouth mail packets stop 
at Barbadoes a week before sailing north, to col- 
lect the island letters and receive the Jamaica 
mail at St. Thomas's : the mail boats sailing the 
day after the arrival of the English mails, allows 
one week for the letters to be received and ans- 
wered : this regulation facilitates correspondence 
admirably. In this trip of four hundred miles 
and upwards, we had plenty of variety ; I may as 
well enter a little into particulars. The quarrel- 
ling of our captain with his crew very soon at- 
tracted my attention ; I had noticed similar beha- 
viour in coming from Demerara; the cause is ob- 
vious. The captains are white men, the crew 
free blacks or apprentices; the former are preju- 
diced against the negros ; are continually scolding 
and accusing them of being stupid ; from this 



108 LETTERS FROM 

continued irritation, the blacks at times become 
obstinate : much allowance is, however, to be 
made for them on account of their peculiar situa- 
tion ; for instance, the mail boat service, and I 
should think there was none more generous, 
allows to each of the crew ten dollars per month, 
one pound of beef, one pound of flour per diem. 
Out of these ten dollars the master of an ap- 
prentice claims eight, leaving the poor tar two ; 
who thus works half starved day and night, 
whilst another man pockets his benefit ; the 
tallest and most effective of our Crew is one of 
this description belonging to the harbour master 
of Bridge Town. In 1831 this negro had a 
narrow escape ; he was exposed to the dreadful 
hurricane of that year, in a vessel which was 
lost; he was then a powerful man, and clung 
to some part of the wreck, on which he was ex- 
posed to the ocean for several days exhausted with 
hunger ; he was picked up at the last extremity, 
to eke out his life with other extremities, first as 
a slave, now as an apprentice. We left Barba- 
does in the evening ; the weather became squally, 
and we soon took to our berths, the motion of a 
schooner in a heavy sea being very unsettling. The 
best cabin was given up to the captain of engineers, 
his lady, and servant; the rest contenting them- 
selves with the second, occupied by luggage and 
cockroaches ; which commodities were unrestrain- 
ed and the former especially changed positions with 
every lurch of the vessel, banging chorusses to the 



THE WEST INDIES. 109 

moveables on deck. Our skipper's voice rose 
louder and louder as night advanced, till he quite 
lost command of his temper, declaring the crew 
would not obey him even when the ship was in 
danger. We lay listening to the effects of anger 
above and clangor below, and became alarmed, 
the quarrelling on deck by midnight having as- 
cumed a more wrathful tone than that of the 
boisterous elements. At last some one of the 
crew would bear his ill treatment no longer, and 
boldly confronted the skipper, who at once sued 
for mercy : "O! d'ont touch me, you know I am 
your master, I am your captain; d'ont touch me." 
We thought below that they were about throwing 
him overboard, and fully expected a catastrophe. 
The two recently arrived Europeans repented of 
their position, reflecting on their voyage out by 
the Falmouth Packet, on which scarcely a need- 
less word was said during the voyage. Sick and 
sleepless was that distressing night, and as morn- 
ing dawned, I ascended thoughtfully to the deck ; 
we were then approaching St. Lucia, upborne on 
troubled waves. 

The island had a magnificent, yet fantastic ap- 
pearance ; its mountains were clothed with trees 
to their summits, conical in their outline ; at 
times they i( were in the dumps, and pulled the 
clouds over their noses, and would not let us 
have even a peep at their high mightinesses." Dr, 
James Johnson says, "to see Corrivrechan in 
high feather, with the sense of terror added to the 



110 LETTERS FROM 

sublimity of the scene, it would be necessary to 
drift into the vortex during a storm, and flood 
tide;" and so the approach to St. Lucia should 
be through a storm, when the winds and vapors 
are in wild career about the mountain sides. 
Ever and anon the pitons, or sugar loaves showed 
their pointed cones above the rolling masses, 
bedecked with trees to their utmost verge : this 
sight was of novel interest. Ben Nevis, Ben 
Lomond, Piynlimmon, and Snowden, are majes- 
tically naked ; but the arrowy cones of St. Lucia, 
nourish their towering evergreens, and allow not 
the vales to surpass them in verdure. We soon 
entered Castries Bay, and loosed anchor; the 
Captain took the mail ashore ; I should have had 
time to walk through the town, but omitted 
accompanying him, from a feeling of nausea and 
unfitness. Our skipper returned, and we made 
sail, but here a new difficulty arose ; we had cast 
anchor in the narrow entrance, and when again 
under way, the vessel had not room to sheer round 
to the wind, but drifted towards the rocks ; the 
anchor was again let go, and on our swinging 
round again, raised, to no good purpose ; as soon 
as the anchor was up we drifted towards the pitons. 
An increase to our difficulty arose from our having 
no capstan or windlass, and the heavy anchor took 
all the crew to raise it, whereas some should 
have been at the sails. 

A dilemma seemed approaching, I kindly roused 
one of the passengers from a comfortable sleep. 



THE WEST INDIES. Ill 

to an uncomfortable alarm ; put my sovereigns 
in my pocket, and stretched my arms for a swim ; 
we tried once more, one passenger took posses- 
sion of the wheel, others helped at the anchor, 
and sails ; the jib happily caught the breeze, 
which steadied the prow, turning us round, and 
then we dashed out; we had escaped without 
touching, and concluded that we were much 
better off, than fighting sharks in their notorious 
haunt of Castries harbour. 

The wind continued high, and we breasted 
the main boldly, and swiftly to Martinique, 
another mountainous and picturesque island, be- 
longing to the French. We had to leave a mail 
here, the English packets carrying the French 
letters. The towns on the different Islands are 
situated on the leeward or western side, and 
the mountains being lofty, vessels approaching 
are becalmed under their lee ; our sailing had a 
character from this circumstance. A fine ten 
knot breeze hurried us on to Martinique, but 
when under its mountain shades, our progress 
was not more than perceptible. We expected 
to reach St. Pierre, the capital, by two p. m., 
whereas it was nine 5 we could just descry the 
diamond rock, so humourously described by 
Coleridge, in his " Six Months ;" but on enter- 
ing St. Pierre's roadstead, from the darkness, 
only lamps were to be seen, pointing out the 
town. It would have gratified me to have had 
an hour's stroll through the streets, and I un- 



112 



LETTERS FROM 



willingly gave it up. Our Europeans shortened 
their journey by going ashore; they were dis- 
heartened from the difficulties we encountered. 

Our Captain having delivered his bags, returned, 
and we ventured on, but in the night had another 
alarm.- A great disturbance on deck, and pre- 
paration to let go the anchor, aroused me. I arose 
and found we were becalmed under the lee of a 
lofty hill, and flapping towards it by the swell 
of the sea \ the overhanging shades looked fearful 
in the night; however, a gully of wind came 
down the precipitous sides, and gently wafted us 
onward, and by break of day we were approach- 
ing Dominica. Soon after we entered the road- 
stead, opposite Roseau, where our vessel lay to. 
I landed, and walked about whilst the Captain 
delivered his mail. Roseau has the appearance 
of gone-by prosperity ; the streets are well paved, 
but the grass now disfigures them : it had a French 
character, and the (i habitans" were crowding 
into the Catholic Chapel, for morning prayers. 
The scenery around was as romantic as can be im- 
agined, highlands of perennial verdure forming 
the back ground. The barracks are imposingly 
situated on an eminence, Morne Bruce, over- 
looking the town. Oranges and other fruits 
abounded ; a papaw was gathered for me, not 
unlike a melon in size and flavour ; the tree, 
(Caria papaya,) grows from twelve to twenty 
feet high, and has the habit of a palm ; the fruit 
hanging pendent from the top of the stem, under- 



THE WEST INDIES. 113 

neath the crown of leaves. In returning from the 
shore to our vessel, we passed near another craft; 
the Captains hailed each other, and on inquiry 
being made, the stranger told us he was black- 
bird hunting ; that is, he was making the tour of 
the islands, to engage negros as indented ap- 
prentices for Demerara. Great part of the day 
was occupied in getting from under the lee of 
Dominica, and then we darted across to Gua- 
daloupe, to be again becalmed : it was dark on 
reaching Basse Terre, the capital ; and I accom- 
panied the Captain, with his poste ; we were 
hailed by a guarda costa, but no delay occurred 
on landing. I at once thought of Paris, the 
avenue of tamarind trees, with seats beneath in 
the principal street, reminded me of the Boule- 
vards ; and my eyes were cheered with a fountain 
of water playing, ever ready to refresh the thirsty 
lounger. After delivering the letter bag to a 
polite and obliging post master, whom we aroused 
from bed, we pushed off in our gig, hailed our 
schooner, but were again laggard on our way, 
checked by mountain influence ; we again reached 
the strait, and shot across to St. John's Antigua, 
entering its beautiful harbour in the afternoon. 
The bay is spacious and well fortified, but the 
island was inferior in appearance, to those we 
had passed. I had sufficient time to see the 
town ; its situation is pleasant, gently rising from 
the Bay, with the summit crowned by the Church, 
from which there is a delightful prospect. At 



114 LETTERS FROM 

seven p.m. we left Antigua, and ran through a wild 
sea to Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat; here we 
lay to for the night, the landing being unsafe in 
the dark ; this was comfortless. The helm was 
lashed, sail was set to steady the vessel, the crew 
went to sleep, and the vessel drifted to sea. After 
heavy rain, we had another fine morning, and 
leaving our mail, hastened by Redondo, to Nevis 
and St. Kitts, which are in sight of each other, 
separated by the Narrows and Booby Island. 
Nevis has a different character from St. Lucia, 
having only one towering imposing summit, and 
that not feathered and arrowy : it is hollowed out 
like a saddle, and bleakly towers aloft; it was once a 
noisy crater, but is now a silent mountain. There 
are mineral springs, and a bathing establishment 
on this island ; and Charles Town, its capital, 
though mean to walk through, looks tolerably 
well from the Bay. We were not detained long 
here, our swan-like schooner soon ploughed the 
Narrows, and we entered the open roadstead of 
St. Kitt's, the same afternoon : several ships 
were at anchor. We landed through a boister- 
ous surf, which at times, renders the landing and 
shipping of goods difficult ; the boats used for the 
purpose are peculiar, being very deep ; the negros 
push them down through the waves, and when 
fairly afloat, jump in. 

Basse Terre is the capital of St. Kitts ; we staid 
some time, our other passengers landing here, 
and having considerable luggage to embark. The 



THE WEST INDIES. 115 

houses are in general poor buildings with paint- 
less shutters or jalousies, devoid of glass. It 
possesses one fine open square 5 the trees however 
were decrepid, and the centre plot neglected and 
brown. The handsomest building I saw was the 
Methodist meeting house ; every window and door 
were open ; no one was by. I walked in and over 
it ; the Bible lay on the pulpit desk, apparently 
safe as the chapel itself ; I concluded there could 
not be much dishonesty here amongst the "goods 
and chattels." The church windows were also 
open, close adjoining ; the buildings stand near 
enough for the congregations to be annoyed at 
each other's singing. The small pox has recently 
raged in St. Kitts, of which the grave yard was 
evidence ; this may have given rise to an extra 
ventilation for places of worship; the community 
had suffered much from the epidemic which was 
spreading rapidly through the other islands. 

At sun- set we were again on our way; I was the 
only passenger left, and felt lonely at the change. 
It was a fine evening, and I had time and inclina- 
tion to look around and contemplate the scene ; 
on my left was Nevis' s towering cratery cone, 
and on my right, close at hand, were the golden 
cain slopes and plains of St. Kitts, gradually as- 
cending inland, till a wilderness of trees occupied 
the place of wind mills and plantations ; then 
more abruptly the hills arose, dimmed and belted 
by congregating vapors, and higher yet again, to 
where Mount Misery's awful summit stood pre- 



116 LETTERS FROM 

eminent and alone : how natural with other 
thoughts to recal Columbus, when sailing by the 
island named " Christopher" by himself; and how 
appropriate the comparison, for he had also, his 
savannahs of promise, his cane fields of hope, and 
his Mount Misery looking over all ; which, rising 
higher and higher, its awful crag became the 
principal object of his vision, and at last over- 
whelmed him. 

In the morning we passed the Dutch islands St, 
Eustatia and Saba, and at noon entered amongst the 
group of Virgin Islands, so named by Columbus, 
in honour of the eleven thousand virgins in the 
Romish Ritual. The derivation should be known, 
for they have little beauty, chiefly boasting of an 
assemblage of naked rocks, and therefore not 
graceful enough to compare with the beautiful 
faces of England, or even of Queen Elizabeth, 
in honour of whom some have thought the name 
was given by Sir Francis Drake. Virgin Gorda, 
Anagada, Tortola, and others, belong to the Eng- 
lish ; the mail was left at Tortola, and we entered a 
spacious and secure harbour ; on our right was a 
negro village running up the mountain sides; it is 
occupied by the cargo of a slave vessel ; they were 
liberated by the British Government, and are 
under its protection. I heard nothing unfavoura- 
ble of the experiment. I was pleased with the 
slight opportunity I had of seeing Tortola ; the 
town is prettily embayed, the residences comfort- 
able, and the negro market women lively and 






THE WEST INDIES. 117 

amusing. The harvest was progressing at the 
different islands as we passed, and the cane fields 
were luxuriant in appearance, especially at St. 
Kitts. The wind again filled our sails, and we 
entered the harbour of the Danish island St. 
Thomas, in the evening ; our desired haven. St. 
Thomas is striking ; the approach is through a 
narrow strait, defended by forts, which spreads 
out into a very spacious land locked bay ; a 
regular well built town fronts the entrance. It 
was dusk when we cast anchor in front of the 
wharfs ; the town was dimly seen, but the lights 
from the houses and in the streets shone brightly, 
straggling up the mountain sides. 

" Many a row 
Of starry lamps, and blazing cressets, fed 
"With Naphtha, and Asphaltus, yielded light, 
As from a sky." 

It is built upon three small hills, jutting out from 
and forming the basement of a lofty mountain, in 
the immediate back ground. This island formerly 
belonged to the Buccaneers ; and a residence, 
having something of the appearance of a fort, is 
still known as Blue Beard's. Great part of the 
town has within a few years been rebuilt substan- 
tially with stone ; it was destroyed by conflagra- 
tion, with which the negros are charged. I here 
bid adieu to our little, active, skilful mail boat 
skipper; he was a native of Cornwall, and was 
ploughing the Caribbean seas as offering greater 



118 



LETTERS FROM 



gain than the European waters ; he was impetu- 
ous and completely lost his authority with his 
crew the first stormy night ; afterwards he rein- 
stated himself, and his kindness and attention to 
his passengers were such as to insure him a re- 
membrance when wide spread seas divide. On 
parting he requested my passport, I gave him the 
only one I had, viz., that from Demerara ; he 
looked surprised, and said it would not avail him ; 
I answered that I could not have procured 
another without staying three weeks at Bar- 
badoes; and as I had only landed a few days 
before, and was desirous of sailing under his 
nautical skill, I thought the old one would suffice, 
as there would be no claim upon him, unless 
I had left in debt ; he acknowledged the difficulty, 
and smiled acquiescence. On inquiry no vessel 
offered for Jamaica; from Jamaica to St. Thomas's 
there is a steamer every fortnight, but it proceeds 
along the chain of islands to Barbadoes, and 
thence direct to Jamaica in a continuous course. 
St. Thomas, therefore, has no direct conveyance 
to Jamaica ; my remedy was to wait patiently 
awhile, and in the mean time to visit Santa Cruz, 
which also belongs to the Danes; for this purpose 
I procured a passport, and am on the point of de- 
parture. Santa Cruz is only forty miles or there- 
about from St. Thomas ; nevertheless, all who 
pass and repass between the two islands, resident 
or not, buy a two dollar passport every time ; on 
the same principle an eight shilling passport 



THE WEST INDIES. 119 

office might be established between Liverpool 
and Dublin, but it could not be acted on for a day. 
Why should there not be the same free inter- 
course between the Colonial subjects of a power, 
as between individuals at the immediate seat of 
Government ? 

I remain, &c. 



120 LETTERS FROM 



LETTER IX. 

Santa Cruz, 2nd. Month, 19th., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

I came over here as I intended in the West 
End Packet, a commodious and swift sailing 
clipper built schooner, having an American cap- 
tain with a crew of slaves. The vessel is their 
only home. The merchant owning the packet 
has bought slaves to work it; they are placed 
upon the craft, never to leave it without permis- 
sion ; they are a young, active crew, but the 
austerity of their captain is enough to freeze the 
current of their humanity. 

Santa Cruz is fifteen miles across from east to 
west, each of which shores has a town, — Christian - 
sted and Fredericksted, more commonly called 
Bass End and West End ; the former is the resi- 
dence of the Governor. I am staying at West 
End, where I found comfortable quarters, at 

E *s boarding house. The town is very full of 

American invalids, who resort here to shun the 
rigours of their own climate. Santa Cruz ac- 
quires many features from this congregating ; 
families of great respectability arrange their 



THE WEST INDIES. 121 

houses for boarders, and they are presided over 
by the uncoloured ; in the English islands, at the 
head of boarding departments, there must be 
colour : such an occupation is menial and de- 
grading for the whites. In Santa Cruz the amor 
nummi has pushed aside this difficulty ; and 
there is so great an arrival of moneyed American 
invalids every season, that the uncoloured have 
thought well to share the harvest, and thus our 
table is presided over by Erin's own, a native of 
Dublin. At the present time there are two hun- 
dred American visitors, invalids with their com- 
panions; there is something melancholy in this 
assemblage ; almost weekly some of them die, 
and the frequent burials harrow deeply the feel- 
ings of the survivors. Our hostess only took in 
boarders, for the first time, a few months since, 
yet she has lost two of her guests, and another 
young man is in a hopeless state. A lady who 
is attending a sick husband told me, "she wished 
she had never seen the island, for there was 
nothing but sorrow ; M truly may it be said, that 
every where, ce sunt lacrymae rerum ; et mentem 
mortalia tangunt." The number of American 
invalids, who have this season laid down their 
mortal remains in Santa Cruz, is fifteen ; so that 
there is a void in many parties : when the hour 
of death arrives, Santa Cruz can no more bind up 
the mortal coil, than the wilds of Nova Zembla ; 
in sunny favoured climes, as on the most inhos- 
pitable shores, a moment arrives in which, " red- 



122 , LETTERS FROM 

enda est terra terrce." The inducements for a 
sojourn at Santa Cruz, are the temperature not 
rising higher than 82o in the shade, at this season 
of the year; the excellent roads, which throughout 
the island, cannot be surpassed ; the easy access to 
America; the conveniences to accommodate in- 
valids in poney gigs, for hire ; the reasonable 
expense of ten dollars per week for board ; and 
the general character of the town and country 
residents, which is that of the utmost friendliness 
and kindness. There is one drawback (charges 
for burial) which affects the survivors, though 
applying to the dead ; the following is a copy of 

them : — 

Dollars. Cents. 

Recording death -------- 6 4 

Informing the public of the death ~ ~ ~ 8 

Attendance of Warden - - - ~ ~ - 4 

Permit for grave -------- 6 40 

Digging the grave ------- 4 

Clerk ----------- 3 20 

Minister reading service 16 dollars, if he 

preaches --------- 32 

Total - - - 63 64 



Amounting to twelve guineas for the right of 
interment : this kingly charge disgusts the Ameri- 
cans ; they dislike becoming a prey to royalty 
after death, now that their private and public 
states are secured from fhe annoyance. With 
some abatement, owing to numerous spittoons in 
the sitting rooms, and the frequent use made of 
them, either from habit or necessity, I am re- 



THE WEST INDIES. 123 

ceiving a large amount of satisfaction in this 
visit. West End is prettily situated in the 
centre of an open bay, round which is a crescent 
of cocoa palms ; the town peers underneath their 
towering plumes, and canes behind crown the 
very summits of the modest hills ; an excellent 
road follows the curvatures of the shore; the 
eminences are the sites for the great houses, sub- 
stantial and convenient, near which cluster the 
slave cottages ; huts they are not, but stone 
dwellings, white washed, and ornamental to the 
estates. If walking on the shore, the idler may 
watch the brown pelican (pelecanus fuscus,) suc- 
cessfully practise his expertness as a fisher, rising 
thirty or forty feet above the water ; onward he 
flies with a steady downcast eye beneath, until 
some finny prey appears ; forthwith he darts with 
an impetus which carries him beneath ; anew he 
spurns the wave, makes no boast of success, but 
extending his feathery arms, moves on well poised 
again. This method of fishing, midway between 
netting and harpooning, may be termed the snap- 
dragon, or rather snap-pelican principle ; far be- 
hind is man with his bobbing, his worming, and 
live-bait trolling : nature's fisherman practises no 
cruelty, not even allowing the struggles of his 
victim to be seen. Compassion should always go 
hand in hand with humanity, and cruelty be 
avoided. When the mind is endowed with the 
love of nature, and with admiration of its won- 
ders, it investigates them, without needlessly in- 
flicting pain. 



124 LETTERS FROM 

" One classed the quadrupeds, and one the fowls; 

Another found in minerals his joy ; 

And I have seen a man, a worthy man, 

In happy mood conversing with a fly ; 

And as he, through his glass, made by himself, 

Beheld its wondrous eye and plumage fine, 

From leaping scarce he kept, for perfect joy." 

On the shore are innumerable small crabs, ex- 
ploring terra Jirma ; and when some great un- 
known disturbs the explorists, off they scamper in 
the most amusing manner, not with backs turned, 
as is the wont of fear, but sidling, as if to bully 
the giant and throw a slight ridicule on his 
boasted laws of progression. Wagon loads of 
conches lie whispering echoes to sea born sounds, 
brought by the murmuring tides ; these are thrown 
away after the fish are extracted, and treated as 
carelessly, as our cockle shells ; the variety in 
their delicate tints is pleasing to look upon. This 
pleasant isle has also other attractions ; hos- 
pitality opens the way for them. Invalids in 
their walks or rides call at the neighbouring 
estates, acquaint themselves with the process of 
sugar making ; explore the gardens to look at the 
different culture of fruits ; visit the boiling-houses, 
to feast upon sling,* and enjoying the agremens 

* Sling is the inspissated boiled syrup, which, adheres to 
the side of the spout, leading to the crystallizing vat ; it is very 
adhesive and thick, and being free from all the cavernous 
impurities of molasses, is approved of by the negros, and re- 
commended by them as palatable and salubrious ; my opinion 
quickly accorded with theirs. (See Letter V., page 53.) 



THE WEST INDIES. 125 

around, endeavour to lessen the ailments of the 
body. Awaiting a conveyance to Jamaica, I am 
here in the meantime settling down into the 
domestic arrangements of invalids ; and if my 
looks were not counteractive, should doubtless 
receive much pity as I walk about ; great is my 
present comparative comfort, free from the malice 
of the Guiana Chronicle, from the surmises of some 
and the shyness of many, I am again a member of 
a social circle ; all anxious to mitigate each 
other's inconveniences, and to lighten the weari- 
ness of absence from the domestic hearth ; bound 
by a strong tie of friendly feeling, the remaining 
links becoming stronger and stronger, as indi- 
vidual ones slip away. 

Fellow countrymen on a foreign shore are 
united in a very close bond of sympathy and 
friendship ; this was well evinced here the other 
day. The Emily packet ship sailing for Sa- 
vannah, a number of Americans more under the in- 
fluence of nostalgia than of real disease, embraced 
the opportunity of embarking for the States. The 
ship weighed anchor in the afternoon, and previ- 
ously to this the small boats took the company on 
board ; the pier whence they were departing was 
crowded with Americans, bidding adieu to their 
countrymen ; the sickly of many stages were 
present, those on whom consumption had fixed a 
stamp of certain doom, and others who yet hoped 
to undermine the insidious enemy. I mixed with 
the throng, and for a moment wished to be an 



126 LETTERS FROM 

American, that I might indulge with others, those 
hallowed feelings of friendship, which earthly 
trials do but endear. I looked upon the pallid 
faces around me, and endeavoured to fathom the 
feelings of each intellectual, reflective, expressive 
countenance ; the " chordoe vocales" were not 
much in requisition, but, doubtless, there were 
u hearts which knocked rather harder than usual 
against the bars of their prisons ;" and though 
generally it may be said, " lacryma nihil citius 
arescit/' I believe there were present, especially 
of the softer sex, some who could acknowledge from 
experience the parting hour was not easily forgot- 
ten ; feeling the truth of Dr. Johnson's assertion, 
Ci there are few things of which we can say, it is 
the last, without emotions of sorrow :" the present 
moment was separating those who were experi- 
encing, — 

" Oh ! when my friend and I, 
In some thick wood have wandered heedless on, 
Hid from the vulgar eye, and sat us down 
Upon the sloping cowslip covered bank, 
Where the pure limpid stream has slid along 
In grateful errors through the underwood, 
Sweet murmuring ; methought the shrill tongued thrush 
Mended his song of love ; the sooty blackbird 
Mellowed his pipe, and softened every note ; 
The eglantine smelled sweeter, and the rose 
Assumed a dye more deep ; whilst every flower 
"Vied with his fellow plant in luxury 
Of dress." 

The final moment came, the passengers were 
all on board, the fore top sail was set, the Emily 



THE WEST INDIES. 127 

glided slowly away, as if unwilling too suddenly 
to break off connection with the shore. 

26th. Santa Cruz is devoted to sugar culti- 
vation ; there are no mountains, but gently swell- 
ing hills, and these have canes to their summits. 
The produce varies much with the season ; ge- 
nerally, for the whole island, it is estimated at 
twenty five thousand hogsheads; last year a 
hogshead was worth one hundred and twenty 
dollars. The present is a very dry season, the 
produce is not expected to exceed thirteen thou- 
sand hogsheads, and the price being reduced to 
eighty dollars, mercantile gloom is at present 
felt. I am informed that the King of Denmark 
receives a greater proportionate revenue from this 
little spot, than from any other portion of his 
dominions, arising from an export duty of twelve 
per cent, and a capitation task. I have spent 
part of a day with an extensive planter, the 
brother of our hostess, in the centre of the island ; 
the road led through an avenue of cocoa nut 
palms, with cane fields on every hand. It being 
crop time, the wind-mills rotate daily and gaily ; 
the boiling houses are at work, and a luscious 
fragrance salutes the windward traveller. 

I had much interesting conversation. There 
are fifteen thousand slaves on the island, and the 
Danish Government extends a degree of parental 
care towards them. American slave treatment 
is, in comparison, barbarous and horrid ; and even 
the British apprenticeship does not stand favour- 



128 LETTERS FROM 

ably by its side. The gentleman I was visiting 
told me, no planter could punish a slave beyond 
confinement, till complained of to the Judge ; 
(two Judges being appointed for the island ;) 
that a pregnant woman cannot be worked at all, 
in the field, and that mothers cannot be punished 
in any way, till their infants are weaned at twelve 
months old. When slaves are sold, they have 
the liberty of objecting to a new master, and of 
choosing their own ; therefore, when they know 
they are to be disposed of, they offer themselves 
to masters of good character, and whom they 
think they should like. A gang of fifty were at 
work in a cane field near by ; there was great 
order, quietness, and regularity ; it was the oc- 
cupation of one to supply the others with water, 
to quench their thirst. The gaol here is within 
the fort ; on visiting it, I found the apartments 
were all deserted ; no prisoners, whilst in health, 
are kept in close confinement, or tread a mill ; 
they work daily in the penal pang. This gang 
may be seen in West End, at different occupa- 
tions ; their appearance is degraded and forlorn. 
Runaways have a chain round their necks, and a 
heavy stone at the other end ; when moving, they 
hug: the stone under one arm, and thus nurse 
their enemy ; others have fetters round their 
ankles : a driver attends them with a switch in 
his hand, as a mark of authority. The punish- 
ments are awarded by the Judge, who sits daily 
to hear complaints ; they are generally floggings, 



THE WEST INDIES. 



129 



or rather scarify ings, with tamarind twigs, which 
are exceedingly pliant and tough ; the place of 
punishment is the open market place ; two were 
flogged there the other day. I saw one of them 
receive the infliction ; my motive, I trust, was 
not an innate love of cruelty \ the culprit was 
tied to a tree, with his arms over his head ; the 
striker laid down a bundle of tamarind twigs, 
picked one out, struck forcibly and slowly at the 
bare back of the negro, and after a few strokes, 
changed his broken twig for a fresh one ; each 
stroke was counted, and one hundred were ad- 
ministered ; his companion had received one 
hundred and fifty. The punishment was very 
severe, and the flesh was lacerated ; the poor 
slave was much distressed, suing for pity during 
his tying up, and the preparations ; but after the 
first blow, a spirit of firm resolve seemed to sus- 
tain him, and, save an occasional moan, accom- 
panied with a look of scorn, he was dumb before 
his persecutors. The judge also decides disputes 
which do not relate to the negros, and his office 
is open daily to complaints ; the community is 
benefited by sources of irritation being quickly 
healed ; for instance — A young man, one of our 
boarders, borrowed a double barrelled gun ; in 
firing it off, one of the barrels burst, and shat- 
tered the stock ; the two parties could not agree 
upon the value of the fowling piece ; they went 
to the Judge, who gave his decision, the bor- 
rower paid his estimate, and the difference ended. 



130 LETTERS FROM 

Sunday markets here are in full operation, and 
barriers are extended across the streets, that the 
buyers and sellers may not be disturbed ; some 
stores are open, and tailors may be seen at 
work ; and no wonder, since the Judge is em- 
ploying masons at his house this very sabbath ; 
the hammering and chiselling were not prevented 
during the time of Church service. 

The English language is generally spoken here, 
even amongst the negros; this must be owing, 
in part, to the intercourse with America. The 
Episcopalian service is patronised by the wealthy, 
and it is read in the English language ; the blacks 
have an allotted place in the church, but enter it at a 
different door: disrespect for the Sabbath is fostered 
by those in authority ; the Governor can remove 
any minister at a word, and the present Minister, 
from a sermon preached a fortnight ago, on the 
duties of the Sabbath, is in danger ; one was 
disposessed of his office a short time back. Mora- 
vians are the only Missionaries patronized, and 
they are highly valued ; they may be said to be, 
to the poor slaves, the sole religious instructors ; 
and the peace and contentment of the island are, 
in great measure, attributed to them. (C O ! 
Christianity, were thy sublimest truths but a 
gilded phantom, he would be the deadliest foe to 
his species, who should seek to tear from before 
their eyes, the blessed illusion. " Slaves on the 
estates are remarkably grateful for notice, and for 
small presents ; in conversation with one, I men- 



THE WEST INDIES. 131 

tioned that I had not tasted the sea side grape ; we 
parted^ after a while he overtook me again, bear- 
ing a plate full ; he had turned away to his hut 
to procure them. Their politeness must be in- 
herent, else how could it withstand the terrible 
assaults made against it? " Good mornin', massa," 
and " good night, massa," accost the pedestrian 
here on all hands ; the whites have sought for too 
much servile flattery, and it has been injurious to 
their minds ; if they had, however, deserved it> 
one might better excuse their love for it. One 
cannot walk out without seeing the impolicy of 
slave labour. I lately saw a gang carrying 
manure to a field, a few shovels full were placed 
in a basket, and then lifted on the head ; as each 
was loaded he marched off to deposit it ; one ox 
would have drawn more than the whole gang. 
As the slaves must be maintained on the different 
estates, and kept from being mischievous, by 
employment^ work is contrived for them in this 
silly way. 

I have had the opportunity of seeing the dis- 
ease, " lepra elephantiasis ;" the subject was of 
middle age ; it affected his right leg, which was 
nearly as large as his body, and consequently un- 
wieldy and powerless ; the enlargement had been 
gradual in its progress ; it is doubtless a disease 
of the lymphatics, and of the surrounding cellular 
tissue ; it is untractable in its nature, the balance 
being destroyed between the capillary secretory 
ducts, and the absorbents; and the latter having 



132 LETTERS FROM 

lost their normal absorbing power, there is a 
continual deposition of extraneous matter. This 
afflicted negro was not entirely useless ; he could 
drive oxen : when doing so, he sat on the shaft 
with his leg resting on it, like a log of wood. 
Oxen are used for draught here, but seldom more 
than two in a yoke ; very active handsome mules 
are also much used, six or eight in a team, and 
the roads being good they are generally trotted, 
even with a load. I admired the adroitness with 
which the negros drove them. 

Our domestic arrangements are in accordance 
with the wishes of the invalids, and they meet my 
approval ; in a few words I may say, we break- 
fast, dine, and drink tea early. These domestic 
comforts remind me much of home, and I can re- 
peat with many another absentee, — 

" England, with all thy faults, I love thee still , 
My country ; and while yet a nook is left, 
Where English minds and manners may be found, 
Shall be constrained to love thee." 

Exercise comes appropriately between meal times ; 
that most approved of is ambling on Porto Rico 
ponies ; these active galloways have a peculiar 
pace, which they are said to inherit, termed racking 
or pacing ; it is a very quick shuffle, between a 
canter and a trot, which apparently causes no 
other motion to a rider than progression. It 
amuses me to see two or three tall, lank, pale, 
phlegmatic invalids, sitting immoveably upright, 



THE WEST INDIES. 133 

with their feet near the ground, whilst the little 
things under them, with their legs quarrelling as 
it were with the well known graceful lines of true 
motion, shuffle along seven miles per hour, as 
if impelled forward by some invisible agent in 
search of the picturesque. 

Our poor wasted invalid, B , mentioned be- 
fore, has been committed to the silent grave. 

" The sun light through the trelliced vines 

Came in upon the dead, 
A pallid youth, and touched with gold, 

The ringlets round his head ; 
No studied words of sympathy 

Were coldly whispered round ; 
The silence of the humble throng 

Told more than measured sound." 

B left New York, far advanced in pthisis ; 

he wished to experience the benefit of a tropical 
atmosphere in lessening his sufferings, and it had 
that effect; for in an atmosphere, ranging between 
74° and 84°, there is no distress from chilliness, 
or rigors ; but he had not counted upon the effect of 
absence on his mind ; painful were its pangs, and 
he was every day mentally at home with his mother 
and sisters : the bible and its contents engaged so 
little of his attention, that I was led to think there 
might be some defect in the scriptural education 
of youth in America. The same vessel which 

brought poor B out will take back his trunks ; 

this is the case with very many, in whom disease 



134 LETTERS FROM 

is too rife and rampant to be benefited by any 
change of air. 

Slavery on the whole bears a mild form in 
Santa Cruz; nevertheless, injustice protects it, as 
is the case wherever it is found. Our landlady, 

E , is as kind as most slaveholders, and a 

professing catholic ; yet she speaks of her un- 
earned and undeserved gains with the same satis- 
faction and indifference as if justice handed them to 
her. One of her slaves is a carpenter, clever, and 
faithful ; in his prime he earned twenty-six dollars 
per month, of which his mistress took twenty, 
leaving him six to clothe and support himself. 
Now advanced in years, he only earns twelve, of 
which she takes eight, leaving him one dollar per 
week for all his necessities, his mistress not even 
finding him lodging. She informs me he is 
happy and does not wish for freedom ; where, 
amongst the civilised and educated whites is such 
patience to be found ? Santa Cruz is suffering 
from drought ; the dry atmosphere has suited 
me, and I have felt much more energy and 
elasticity than in Demerara. The evenings are 
very favourable for enjoyment, enriched by gorge- 
ous curtains moving along the western horizon, 
and indeed over the whole vault of heaven ; the 
sun-sets are most magnificent; and Phoebus nightty 
sinks into a bed of gold, which, as soon as he has 
laid down his head, is enclosed by the most 
elegant drapery of "lilac and purple;" but the 
dies are not lasting, they change momentarily, and 



THE WEST INDIES, 135 

the heavens gleam with the tints of a thousand 
rainbows. When Apollo's " broad globose" is 
fairly veiled, then the dance of colours begins ; 
then is the time to feast the eyes on heaven's rich 
" colure," to give reins to the mind, and freedom 
to the thought, and fully to indulge in the reveries 
created by a tropical sun- set. Very much I 
enjoy these evenings, pacing the sounding shore, 
near to or under the stately palms, which are 
highly picturesque and graceful in the mellowed 
light. At times I visit a slave burial ground, 
situated on the borders of a cane field, along the 
gurgling shore ; few of the graves are unprotected, 
and many of them have brick tombstones : this 
attention told much for the slave; yet the proprie- 
tor had not even fenced the ground so sacredly 
occupied ; it mattered not, for the occupants, 
" the weary, were at rest." At other times, 
leaving the margin of the waves, and roaming to 
one estate or another, I watch the harvest and 
planting, which proceed simultaneously. The 
fields are now ridged, and in the hollows between 
the ridges are placed cut lengths of ripe cane at 
their proper distances ; as soon as rain falls they 
will be covered over. On seeing the cane plants 
thus exposed, I concluded the negros were trust- 
worthy, and not mischievously inclined, or they 
would cany away the cane joints for their pigs, 
or displace them, to cause confusion \ my opinion 
is, that if our English farmers left their pota- 
toes bare in a similar manner, a very small chance 



136 LETTERS FROM 

for a crop would remain to them. At other times, 
wishing to indulge my horticultural taste, I visit a 
garden on a plantation which is open to invalids, 
and admire the variety of tropical fruit trees ; to 
be embowered amidst these Caribbean waters on 
a little spot, one of the smallest of the Antilles, as 
evening's shades are advancing, preparatory to the 
fall of night's sable mantle, induces a pensive 
mood, and an aspiration to Deity, that the moral 
grandeur of man, through his grace, might be on a 
par with the beauties of nature ; and that as the 
Caribs have ceased to prey on their fellow men, 
Europeans might also remove the grievous bur- 
dens which accompany their yoke of bondage: 
" Ambulant es in horto, audiebant vocem Dei." 

I remain, &c. 



^ "■ 








fe"." 



THE WEST INDIES. 137 



LETTER X. 

St. Thomas, 3rd. Month, 6th., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

Hearing that the brig Oscar, from London, 
was unloading here, and would probably touch at 
Kingston, on her way to Campeachy, I left Santa 
Cruz hastily, lest I should miss the opportunity. 
I have engaged a passage ; and as the captain does 
not sail for several days, an opportunity is afforded 
me of obtaining farther acquaintance with this 
island. On leaving Santa Cruz by the same 
schooner in which I went over, my mind was pained 
with the brutal conduct of the captain to some of his 
crew, who were poor slaves. Two of them had had 
permission to go ashore, with an injunction as to 
time ; they were not on board when the captain 
came, preparatory to weighing anchor ; ere long 
they came off in a boat, and on ascending the deck 
he flew into a passion, and with a cane belaboured 
them over head, face, neck, and shoulders. The 
poor blacks bore it as if a fly was settling on them, 
simply, saying " Massa, do forgive, we only little 
belated :" if they had shown any retaliation, they 
would have been sent back, and perhaps committed 

T 



138 LETTERS FROM 

by the judge to the penal gang. I am inclined to 
think no planter on the island would have been so 
abusive as this American, who however did not 
do more than their republican freedom permits, 
notwithstanding their declaration of independence 
proclaims. "We hold these truths to be self- 
evident ; that all men are created equal ; that they 
are endowed by their Creator, with certain and 
inalienable rights ; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness :" and does 
not this apply, thought I, " Quamvis ille niger, 
quamvis tu candidus esses." Are not yonder cane 
fields indebted to the negros for their waving 
arrows? and does not the continuance of the 
daily comfort and sustenance of the planter, depend 
upon their assiduous industry ? Yet thou who 
boastest of thy liberty, wouldst confine these poor 
slaves within the precincts of a schooner. I hope 
the day will come when Americans shall no more 
dare to say, " de nigris non curat lex" but shall 
be obliged to act in accordance with their own de- 
claration. 

The Virgin islands are fifty in number, a small 
company to represent the eleven thousand virgins 
in the Romish ritual; many of them are naked rocks: 
in others the mountains are covered with a red cal- 
careous soil, which produces brush wood ; the trees, 
if ever existing, are now extinct. St. Thomas's 
(not a very appropriate name for a virgin,) is of 
this character : the mountain on either side, 
projects out, enclosing a very extensive and beau- 



THE WEST INDIES. 139 

tiful bay for shipping; and the town, is built on 
three montecules, backed by a noble hill ; the ra- 
vines separate the town into three divisions, which 
make a striking and unique appearance. Existing 
slave regulations are closely observed, a very 
active police is organised, and at gun fire at eight 
p. m., there is a reveille of drums, police pa- 
trole the streets, and every slave found abroad 
is committed. The island grows but few canes, 
not manufacturing sugar enough for its own con- 
sumption ; nevertheless, there is abundance of 
wealth, arising from a flourishing commerce, oc- 
casioned by having a free port, goods entering, 
only paying a duty of one per cent.; consequently 
St. Thomas is a depot to supply the Spanish 
islands, Porto Rico and Cuba. This port has 
the character of abetting slavery, they fit out and 
provision slavers here ; I am informed two slavers 
recently sailed, and that two others have lately 
landed their cargoes at Porto Rico, in number 
upwards of four hundred : slave vessels at the 
present day are of a small class, altogether depend- 
ing upon swift sailing ; the risk is so great, that 
insurances cannot be obtained, even at fifty per 
cent. Slaves here are, for the most part, domes- 
tics and labourers ; a large building is now erect- 
ing before the "Traveller's Home/' where my 
quarters are ; the burden bearers to the masons 
are all women, who carry the mortar, and bring 
stones from the wharf ; they are decently 
dressed, straight as arrows, and go through their 



140 LETTERS FROM 

daily labour sedately and orderly, in this hot 
sun ; they are not worked almost naked as in 
Demerara, neither are there naked children run- 
ning about. The negro countenance has not 
any attractions for me, but I admire their figure 
and gait, walking with chin up, and toes out ; 
no crooked backs or bowed legs are met witli ; 
the diseases of luxury do not afflict them ; one 
preventive is, they lie upon the boards, beds for 
domestics are never thought of; with a mat on 
the floor, or at the foot of the stairs, they woo the 
ecstacy of repose, and seldom miss their object. 
From there being an abundance of hands here, 
and a scarcity in Demerara, two schooners are 
at anchor, wishing to engage hands ; two hundred 
is the number they could convey : one of them 
had been to Tortola for indented labourers, but 
was disappointed ; the negros having a suspicion 
of unfair treatment, had sent a messenger to 
Demerara, to enquire into the fate of their 
brethren, and were anxiously awaiting his report 
and return. I do not believe Demerara will want 
labourers after 1840, if they find the colony 
healthy and are made comfortable ; it is thought 
that some of the islands will be almost depopu- 
lated, after that period, by the population going 
to Demerara ; which means, that the u idle impro- 
vident negro," will go hundreds of miles after la- 
bour, and its reward. The Danish Governor here 
is very jealous of the Apprenticeship traders, and 
has issued an ordinance, that no negro shall leave 



THE WEST INDIES. 141 

St. Thomas's, till he has been free twelve months. 
A Captain from Newcastle, (England) has this 
week had his vessel seized ; a hue and cry was 
raised, after he had left the port, that some slaves 
were missing; he was followed, the wind not 
favouring his escape, and brought back ; it ap- 
peared that he was short handed, and engaged 
two or three blacks, without taking the precau- 
tion of knowing whether they were free or not : 
he seems wholly unacquainted with slave laws, 
and on this ground it is hoped, he may escape 
penalties and punishment. 

In one of my rambles I inspected a small cane 
mill, worked by six mules, three to each end of 
a beam, but their distress was so great, and the 
flogging so continuous, I thought humane minds 
might properly object to mule sugar. Some sugar 
is made over the mountain, and it is brought to 
the town without difficulty : two long poles are 
braced to the sides of two mules, standing one 
before the other ; a small cask of sugar is then 
tied between them, resting on the bars. Up the 
hill they start, and the leader has quite enough 
to do, tugging at the poles, with a cask of sugar 
resting on them, and his companion at the other 
end ; but once at the top, he comes down to St. 
Thomas's with evident satisfaction, head first, 
without any danger of falling; his companion has 
to keep him up, who is evidently much annoyed 
at his pulling propensity, and has no other re- 
source than throwing himself upon his haunches. 



142 LETTERS FROM 

and thus in part, moderating the impetus of 
descent. The view from the top of the mountain 
is grand ; Santa Cruz, Porto Rico, Tortola, St. 
Johns, and the Windward Keys, are all around, 
the three latter lie, as it were, under one's feet ; 
it is a task to accomplish the ascent without a 
horse, but when there, no horse is thought of. 

"But beautiful islands, each of which is a gem, 
Like to pearls in the crown of some rich diadem." 

A pleasant fragrance accompanies the pedestrian 
up the ascent, as if from " sweet Melissa/' or 
from : — 

" — ■ groves of myrth, 



Or flow'ring odours, cassia, nard, and balm ; 
A wilderness of sweets ." 

Here then I stood one evening, and only one ; 
and ere I left 

" Beheld the sun in western cadence low 
From noon; and gentle airs, due at that hour, 
To fan the earth now wak'd, and ushered in 
The evening cool." 

It has gratified me to renew my acquaintance 

with L , who was one of our crowded party 

from England, and who resides here. He informs 

me of the death of our fellow passenger, F , 

who died of fever shortly after reaching St. 
Thomas. He was the picture of health during 
our voyage, not at all reminding us by his looks, 



THE WEST INDIES. 143 

that "vita est brevti."* In my walks I have 
been surprised at the numerous lizards, and 
amused at their whimsical runnings, and inde- 
pendent stare ; they are as plentiful and active 
in the banks as rabbits in a warren, and look at 
the passing stranger, as much as to say, I know 
what I love, won't you treat me. This love is 
said to be for music ; whether or no they are sub- 
ject to its influence I had no means of judging ; 
they inspected me as if I were a master of the art, 
and could dispense the treat ; they were mistaken 
in their Orpheus, as many others besides lizards 
have been. Sabbath here is neither accordant 
with the precepts of St. Thomas, nor with the 
emblem of Santa Cruz ; it is a day of dealing, and 
of marketing, with more shops open than shut ; 
those which are closed belong to the English and 
Scotch. There is much babbling confusion, free 
negros giving full liberty to one little member. 
There are eggs for sale by thousands of the booby 
(pelecanas sulaj mentioned before, a perishing 
commodity in this climate; they are procured from 
the neighbouring islands. Some fishes are quite gay 
in their colours, others astray in their forms, and 
have fanciful names to accord, as angels, trum- 
peters, et cet. Star fish are very large ; I have 
preserved some twelve inches from ray to rav. 

* Since my return home I have heard of the death of M 

of Trinidad, another " passager du voyage." His amiable 
qualities and accomplishments had endeared him to all. 



144 



LETTERS FROM 



23rd, Kingston, Jamaica. 
One week's pleasant sailing landed me here, a 
distance of seven hundred miles. Our captain had 
never been to Jamaica, and had no chronometer; yet 
he made a tolerably good land fall. One morning 
he promised us the land would be in sight at five, 
p. m., and at that hour he said it was distinct, 
though not visible to any one else ; bye and bye 
it loomed in Cynthia's light, and was in appear- 
ance dangerous ; the eastern point is low, and not 
being able at that hour to distinguish the blue 
mountains, the shore appears a threatening reef ; 
the breakers are heard dashing against a dark line 
in the horizon, — that dark line is Jamaica ; if our 
course had not been true, how easily we might 
have run upon it. 

" One views the long wished head-land from the mast, 
With merry shouts; the far off coast he hails; 
Each points it out to each, until at last, 
They lose in present joy, the troubles of the past." 

The day broke, and very imposing then was the 
"land of springs,"* not with its water, but with 
its majestic blue mountains, the summit of which, 
called the Peak, was towering eight thousand feet 
above us, and which alone was indistinct, some 
fleecy vapours resting thereon, drawn by the at- 
traction of the weighty mass; two elements, earth 
and water, were there combining their inherent 
qualities to fertilise the savannahs below. We 

* Jamaica is an Indian name, signifying " land of springs." 



THE WEST INDIES, 



145 



sailed sufficiently near the shore to distinguish 
shipping in Morant Bay; and soon after a boat, 
containing negros, came alongside, and one of 
them ascended the deck to conduct our ship into 
port, as when 

" A pilot from amidst the Cyclades, 
Delos, or Samos, first appearing kens." 

A gallant sail ; we were all immediately subject 
to Quashie, because we were ignorant of coral 
reefs, with which he was intimately acquainted. 
" Knowledge is power." Europeans own the 
truth of this axiom ; in the tropics it has been 
modified to " white skin is power 5" this unphilo- 
sophical change, in practice is found quite op- 
posed to humanity and Christianity : soon after- 
wards we cast anchor a breast of Port Royal. St. 
Domingo had been in sight, from our deck, a 
couple of days; we could distinguish the head- 
lands, as Altavella, Point Abacou; this, then, was 
Hayti, which when discovered had a population of 
two millions of Indians, and in less than a century 
from that time, not a representative was left ! 
they had maintained their independence against 
the Caribs, but they could not preserve their life 
against the Christians. 

" Oft the pensive muse 
Recals in tender thought, the mournful scene, 
When the brave Incotel, from yonder rock, 
His last sad blessing to a weeping train, 
Dying, bequeathed. The hour (he said) arrives, 
By ancient sages to our sire's foretold ; 
U 



146 LETTERS FROM 

Fierce from the deep, with heaven's own lightning armed, 
The pallid nation comes ; blood marks their steps ; 
Man's agonies their sport ; and man their prey." 

This trip of seven days was a fair specimen of 
sailing in a sunny clime ; a gentle trade wind 
embraced by our wide spread canvass, propelled 
us pleasantly o'er smiling waters ; daily we were 
watched over by the sun, whose tropical bright- 
ness and uprightness unlock nature's secret 
stores of beauty and grandeur ; and at night we 
were looked down upon by glorious heavenly 
orbs, whose clear and lucid rays spread silvery 
mellowness o'er all the wide expanse. Almost 
hourly we were visited by feathered messengers, 
whose gay plumage was as a passport from the 
land of evergreens ; they could not warble the 
u throssilts cheary note;" but so pleasing to the 
eye were they, that my sense of hearing might, 
without difficulty, await its season of appropri- 
ate charm, which would arrive, when in northern 
shades, I might lislen to the evening songsters. 
It was not amiss, on such an occasion, to recal the 
lines of our honoured Milton : — 

" Now gentle gales, 
Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense 
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
Those balmy spoils. As when to them who sail 
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past 
Mozambique, off at sea ; north-east winds blow 
Saboean odours from the spicy shore, 
Of Araby the blest." 



THE WEST INDIES. 14/ 

Vessels in general sail up the harbour to King- 
ston, but the Oscar, going elsewhere, cast anchor 
at Port Royal ; and I, with other passengers, en- 
gaged a small sail boat for the remaining distance, 
seven miles ; it carried us swiftly up, near to the 
Palisades ; this is a long strip of land, extending 
for several miles, from above Kingston to Port 
Royal, leaving a narrow entrance into the inner 
bay. Mangroves flourishing on this long, low, 
narrow peninsula, have caused it to have the fan- 
ciful name of Palisades :* blue and white egrets, 
and brown pelicans, have here their haunts, and 
add an interest to the scene ; overlooked, however, 
upon approaching, for the first time, Kingston, 
in Jamaica. We landed on a public stelling, 
at which there is an immediate charge made, 
perhaps, to liquidate the expense of erection ; for 
myself and luggage it was two dollars : such a 
reception is somewhat uncourteous, and unworthy 
of so wealthy a community. I now parted from 
my fellow voyagers, amongst whom was a gentle- 
man, with wife and family ; he was a fond father, 
but fondness had produced a noxious weed, pas- 
sion, in a son four years old : the uncontrollable 
temper of this boy discomfited the whole cabin, 
and the language he uttered was so awful, that of 



* The naked pendent stems from the branches, which, after 
reaching the mud, root downwards to shoot upwards, and so 
on ad infinitum, are supposed to have a resemblance to a pail 
fence, — hence palisades. 



148 LETTERS FROM 

him it might truly be said, though young in years, 
he was old in crime. 

Kingston is a well built large town, of thirty 
thousand inhabitants ; some streets run parallel 
with the bay, and are crossed by others at right 
angles ; many of the houses are large, standing 
alone in enclosures ; the streets are unpaved, and 
having a surface of loose sand, it is as troublesome 
as at Southport, Lancashire, where it is said, 
ladies walk the sand in their shoes, and then en- 
deavour to walk it out ; what increases the incon- 
venience is, there are no proper foot ways ; they 
vary as to height, and are generally enclosed 
under the balconies, forming part of the house, 
where goods are exposed for sale, the owners 
sitting contentedly by on their chairs. 

25th. I had yesterday the pleasure of again 
meeting my friends Joseph Sturge and Thomas 
Harvey, on their return from an inland journey 
of several weeks, having visited a great part of 
the island. J. S. is intending to return home 
by an early conveyance. 

27th. Yesterday was the Sabbath; we at- 
tended a large Baptist Missionary congregation, 
under the pastoral care of J. Gardiner.* When 
crowded, the meeting-house holds two thousand. 
There are attached, a boys', girls 5 , and infant 

* This devoted Christian Minister was at the time I wrote, 
the picture of health ; he is now no more : he succeeded the 
lamented Coulthart, of the Queen-street Chapel, and like 
him has resigned his earthly tabernacle. 



THE WEST INDIES. 149 

school. It is pleasant to witness education pro- 
ceeding ; children are in general very happy when 
receiving instruction. In the evening we drank 
tea with an estimable gentleman, W. H. Ander- 
son, the solicitor-general, who married a young 

woman, L. K , sent out from England to 

take charge of the Spanish Town Metropolitan 
girls' school. Their home is one of domestic fe- 
lecity 5 and their kindness to us was as sincere as 
it was cordial. W. R. A. is a true philanthro- 
pist, and has sacrificed much time in bringing to 
justice several oppressors ; but they are made to 
suffer little, the juries bring in verdicts of 
damages, one pound fifteen shillings, which do 
not carry costs ; no verdict under two pounds 
does, so that he has much discouragement. There 
is much and fearful oppression here, and a de- 
termined spirit of opposition against the doctrine 
of " good will to man." One subject of our con- 
versation was the overwhelming calamity of 
W. B — — , episcopal minister at St. Ann's Bay ; 
he has been for years a pro-slavery advocate, but 
is at the present time humbled in the dust with 
affliction, from the harrowing catastrophe of 
seeing his four lovely and accomplished daughters 
perish in the bay by a boat upsetting. For some 
time his mind was in danger ; he could not re- 
concile the severity of the judgment ; he now 
prays to be brought to a willingness to view it 
as the only means which would bring him to a 
just estimate of his situation in the Divine sight ; 



150 LETTERS FROM 

and is made willing to see in it the hand of Pro- 
vidence for the salvation of his soul. The ac- 
counts given by those who have visited him, is 
painfully interesting. He has one little boy left, 
but cannot receive consolation from so small a 
representative of his once cheerful circle. 

At h Month, 1st. I accompanied Joseph Stcjrge 
on a visit to the Papine Estate, proprietor, J. B. 

W . An infant school has been established 

on the estate ; the children behaved well, and had 
made some progress. This estate is irrigated by 
the Hope river, diverted from its course by the 
purpose. The barracks are likewise supplied 
from this source ; and J. B. W. is said to receive 
six hundred pounds per annum for the right. It 
is truly pleasant to see running water in this 
thirsty clime, and it is so valuable, that the whole 
stream has been made to leave its mountain-bed, 
which instead of a foaming river, has thus become 
a rocky barranca. From the Papine we rode to 
Grecia Regale, in the St. Catherine mountains, 
the residence of Stephen Bourne, a Special 
Magistrate; whose conscientious administration 
of the law, in the spirit of the Imperial Act, 
has brought down upon him ruinous persecution, 
and he is liable at any time to be sold up under 
an unjust conviction of one of the law courts. 

The ride to the cottage gratifies to the utmost 
the eye longing and searching after novel scenery ; 
it is riveted by the wildness and originality of 
nature's eternal hills, united with the evergreen 



THE WEST INDIES. 151 

verdure of tropical beauty. On being introduced 

to Mrs. B and a numerous interesting family, 

I at once felt at home ; the house is situated on 
the hill side of a mountain gorge, through which 
the Hope river tumbles hurriedly along, and by 
the side of which a capital road has been formed, 
winding higher and higher in its approach to St. 
Catherine's Peak, a summit five thousand feet 
high; being the means of approach to country 
residences, and coffee plantations, located at the 
intermediate degrees of elevation. Grecia Regale, 
a small estate, could not boast of many coffee trees, 
but there were various plants and productions to 
interest the stranger : before the piazza was an 
orange tree in full bearing, the u golden rinds hung 
amiable." We gathered them at our pleasure; 
they were as excellent to the taste as pleasant to 
the eye : oranges gathered before they are ripe, and 
which ripen on their Northern journey to England, 
deserve no comparison. Here was the sago palm, 
modestly low, three feet high :* the pimento with 
its smooth silvery bark and iron hearted stem, 
sending forth its almost perpendicular branches, 
thickly clothed with fragrant leaves and fruit. 
Here the luscious pine apple (anana) growing as 
openly as our turnip in unsheltered spots ; and 
the stately mangos, claiming no other succour 

* This Palm, in the East Indies, attains the height of fifty 
feet ; it delights in moist situations : I never saw it but on ele- 
vated ground, and this may be the reason of its humble sta- 
ture in the West. 



152 LETTERS FROM 

than common forest trees, and soon rivalling 
them in height, and surpassing them in a most 
bountiful lavish return of fragrant fruit ; there 
are ten species of this valuable productive tree, 
offering their bounty to horses, goats, and pigs, 
which animals are very fond of them : the fruit 
is the size of a moderate sized apple, having a 
hard core, from which membranous strings radi- 
ate to the circumference ; these fibres are trouble- 
some to a novice, but the turpentine smack is the 
most difficult to reconcile ; the palate improves 
by practise, and after wounding and throwing 
many away, I could at last boast of relishing a 
mango. The delicate tender star apple also, 
hung pendent from its parent stem, about twelve 
feet high ; it causes no difficulty ; its thin rind, 
tinted like the rainbow, offers little resistance to 
the escape of its luscious pulp. Amidst this 
horticultural profusion, my heart for a moment, 
lost its apprenticeship oppression, and abandoned 
itself to cheering admiration and useful investi- 
gation : questions about distress, oppression, and 
misery, I deferred to the more appropriate sites 
of Half- way- tree workhouse, and Spanish Town 
gaol; Grecia Regale eliciting other ideas, from the 
pleasant impressions conveyed by its woody laby- 
rinths, and its fruitful bowers. Rain in the 
evening prevented our return, and in the night 
a thunder storm first aroused us, and then pro- 
moted silence, by its grandeur ; it was awful, our 
little mountain tenement seemed to totter, as if 



THE WEST INDIES. 153 

made of pasteboard, during the pealing thunders 
and the hollow mountain reverberations ; the 
sounds were as of the mountains clashing their 
heads, or as if the 

" Hills amid the air, encountered hills , 
Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire." 

I was really afraid our cottage would have been 
uprooted in the affray, and that we should have 
been tumbled into the river Hope, and sunk in a 
hopeless river. We rose early, and mounted our 
horses, whilst every leaf was pearled with crystal 
drops. One mile from the house, the road where 
it wound under a precipice, was blocked up by huge 
fragments of rock, which had been precipitated dur- 
ing the storm from above : the reason, who can tell ? 
there was the fact and proof, one crag had lost its 
crown. As we rode over the Liguanea sandy plain 
into Kingston, its herbs and herblets were revivify- 
ing and rebudding. Rain in the tropics is the magi- 
cian's wand ; it touches the dusty parched leaves, 
and greenness is theirs ; it moistens the sandy plain 
brown and sapless as the scattered fern, and the 
newness of spring bursts from its surface, and 
bedecks it with the modest beauties of the vale. 
This plain between Kingston and the mountains is 
several miles wide ; part is uncultivated and occu- 
pied by logwood and acacias, the former is not un- 
like old scraggy thorn bushes, such as may be 
seen in the Phoenix Park, Dublin ; in the forest it is 
a tall imposing tree, but on the plain behind King- 
x 



154 LETTERS FROM 

ston, it is the picture of despair. There are also 
pens 5* some of the enclosures are surrounded 
by an upright cactus, impenetrable; the shoots 
have different heights, the tallest fifteen feet, and 
others intermediate, forming barriers which for- 
bid intrusion. Cottages and small plots are ge- 
nerally surrounded by the penguin, which grows 
much like an aloe, each leaf is armed with a pro- 
truding spike. Occasionally the Spanish dagger 
(yucca superba) is planted, as a hedge row; but 
on growing aloft, its stems become bare, and 
thus pigs walk under what they could not walk 
over. Joseph Sturge, whose company has been 
truly acceptable and encouraging, will be the 
bearer of my next, in which I shall continue my 
narrative. 

I remain, &c. 



* Pen is synonymous with an English country seat. 



THE WEST INDIES. 155 



LETTER XI. 

Kingston, Jamaica, Mh. Month, 2nd., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

There is no want of good boarding houses 
and taverns in Kingston ; my quarters are a little 
distance from my friends ; at present there is 
not room for me in their comfortable abode. I 
have remarked in the tropics how much the resi- 
dents think of England ; all classes, even the 
negros, calling it "home;" and how many of 
the more wealthy inhabitants have visited and re- 
visited Albion's cliffs; if natives of Britain, a 
revisit seems a matter of course. Their oceanic 
peregrinations produce varied experience. My 
landlady embarked with many others from Lon- 
don in the Flora, 15th of last 9th month ; they 
were detained in the channel ; and on the 12th of 
10th month, the night the Clarendon was lost, on 
the Isle of Wight, they gave themselves up for 
lost, and assembled in the cabin to compose their 
minds, by hearing the bible read, expecting the 
event ; the captain having informed them they 
would be wrecked in one hour, if the wind did 
not change; soon after it veered a little, and 



156 LETTERS FROM 

enabled them to reach Ryde. The following 
morning they saw several corpses of the sufferers 
by the Clarendon, carried to their graves. 

The howling storm arose not to abate, 

E'en hoping against hope at last was gone; 
Victims they were, of that heart-rending fate, 

Which late befel the goodly Clarendon ; 
For she was wrecked upon the Isle of Wight, 
'Midst storms of darkness, in a wintery night. 

Of many souls in her, there were no more 
Than three or five escaped that fearful death : 

Driven by winds upon that dreaded shore ; 

First they were wrecked ; and then their fluttering breath 

From earthly tabernacles passed and fled, 

And they 'ere morning's dawn were with the dead. 

With home in sight, almost within their reach, 

The dangers of the atlantic left behind; 
When, lo ! their vessel stranded on the beach, 

Ruin and wreck, and certain death to find ; 
Strong and with hope she left thy isle, St. Kitts, 
But Albion saw her shattered into bits. 

The wind on the 17th, which wafted our Sky- 
lark out of Falmouth, enabled the Flora to pur- 
sue her course, and they reached Jamaica ten 
weeks after leaving the Thames. The wife and 
daughter of J. Tinson, (^senior Baptist Mis- 
sionary,) have also lately returned from England ; 
they were at sea near twelve weeks. The ocean 
made breaches over them, and burst into their 
berths ; whereas we were little more than three 



THE WEST INDIES. 15/ 

weeks reaching Barbadoes, and had not a breaker 
over us ; in the latter case making a difference as 
to time of eight weeks, though Jamaica is not 
a thousand miles farther from England than 
Barbadoes. 

The Oscar, by which I came here, left St. 
Kitts in the summer of the previous year, with 
the Clarendon, which being the largest and the 
newest vessel was most approved of. She sailed 
for England full of passengers, all of whom 
perished. The Oscar had one solitary individual, 
who reached London in safety. " The race is not 
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." 

We have visited Wolmer's free school, which 
has been founded upwards of a hundred years. 
A gentleman of that name bequeathed all his 
estate, real and personal, except some trifling 
legacies, for that purpose. Some examinations 
were conducted in our presence, highly satisfac- 
tory. A Mulatto boy was the quickest at arith- 
metic : he answered three questions of pounds, 
shillings, and pence, complicated in their nature, 
in three quarters of a minute. An infant school 
is now attached under the same endowment ; and 
we were equally gratified with it. It is superin- 
tended by E. Reid, whose daughter is teacher; 
he has been head master twenty-three years. 
There are five hundred scholars in this charity. 
There are in Kingston two schools on Wolmer's 
foundation, three national, four Mico, one baptist, 
one Jamaica union, and ten Sunday schools, be- 



158 



LETTERS FROM 



sides many respectable private seminaries. We 
called at the Union school; it being Easter 
there was no attendance. The building is very- 
suitable. This school is supported by subscrip- 
tions, and a grant from the Assembly ; the pupils 
also pay ; with a few exceptions they are all black 
or coloured ; but at Wolmer's, though there is 
said to be free admission, not many blacks attend. 
In company with R. Osbqrn, a coloured gen- 
tleman, and a proprietor of the Watchman news- 
paper, we visited the gaol, a most defective place. 
The condemned and untried are mixed pellmell 
in a small yard, thirty yards by eight, in which 
upwards of sixty are crowded together, chief part 
with irons on their legs ; some have been prisoners 
for years, though sentenced to transportation. 
Rations are not distributed, but money, one 
shilling and threepence each per diem, which is a 
great incentive to gambling. A cruel custom is 
extant here of imprisoning crown witnesses, until 
the assizes, though merely accidental eye witnesses. 
We saw one who had been imprisoned for months, 
as a crown witness, though guilty of no crime ; 
thus — if a negro beholds an out-break, and the 
Governor takes up the cause, into limbo he or she 
must go for three or seven months, till the trial is 
over. Barbarous cruelty this ! The debtor's gaol 
is attached ; they have a roomy flagged yard, and 
good apartments, and are allowed two shillings 
and sixpence per diem each in money at the 
island's expense. Money in gaol is a premium for 



THE WEST INDIES. 159 

vice. The debtors appeared to me to be chiefly 
whites : this is one reason they are so well off. 
R. Osborn also accompanied us to the workhouse, 
situated at some distance ; it is a pattern of clean- 
liness, and I may say elegance, as regards the 
court yard, and the arrangement of its buildings. 
Two tread wheels are in operation here ; the 
dancers are on every alternate quarter of an hour, 
from six a. m., to five p. m. ; very severe work. 
They are not tied or held on, but reminded of 
their duty by a driver with a switch. These 
wheels have no machinery attached ; perhaps that 
is a mercy, though I am inclined to think that it 
is disheartening, when an individual knows his 
labour tends to nothing. If the wheels must go 
round, they might pump water for baths ; great 
would be such a luxury ; but there is little public 
spirit : open sea bathing on account of sharks is 
out of the question. A sailor the other day 
would bathe in the harbour ; as he was regaining 
the boat, all the flesh was torn from his leg, and 
amputation was necessary. 

A lazaretto occupies one corner of the yard, 
there were a few cases of lepra leontiasis, known 
as the coco bay disease ; in this complaint 
the extremities drop off little by little ; one 
poor man had not a single finger left, and mere 
stumps of toes ; and a woman was in a similar 
melancholy state : this is a very different com- 
plaint to the elephantiasis, which is an excess 
of deposition ; the leontiasis seems one of innu- 



160 LETTERS FROM 

trition, and otherwise, than of the lymphatics, 
is a disease of the arteries, but why they should 
be obstructed and perish, I know not ; "felix qui 
potuit rerum cognoscere causas ;" then it might 
be hoped a remedy would be found, on the prin- 
ciple that " the knowledge of a disease is half 
its cure." Medical men should always bear in 
mind, " in vivum corpus medicamenta agunt ;" 
this remembrance would stimulate them to per- 
severe after a remedy ; yes, to search the " ar- 
cana of nature," that poor suffering humanity 
might be relieved. The complaint is much dread- 
ed as highly infectious ; the poor objects are 
dungeoned, never to associate with others: negros 
are alone subject to its influence ; happily it 
is uncommon. The town hospital afterwards 
claimed our attention, a large, clean, and well 
regulated charity, crowded with patients : insane 
are mingled with the sick, they are the inoffensive 
ones ; close at hand is a public lunatic asylum, 
containing many bad cases ; two of the worst 
were British, a female servant who had not been 
out more than fifteen months, and an Irishman : 
it is humbling to find one's countrymen shut up 
in cells, so far from home, forlorn and shattered 
in mind and body: what an amount of real misery 
may be seen in a few hours, in an hospital, a 
lunatic asylum, a gaol, and house of correction ! 
How different are the sensations on visiting 
schools, where youthful life sparkles with the 
acquirements of knowledge ; and where, as yet, 



THE WEST INDIES. 161 

there has been no blast from the touch of this 
wicked world. In one cell was an insane negro, 
who had previously murdered his companion in 
confinement; yet he was loose, in company with 
two more patients, as if, having despatched one, 
he might try his hand on two. A hot climate 
does not, it is clear, prevent insanity ; I have 
never seen more violent and noisy patients, and 
in the case of the servant girl, was it anxiety of 
mind, or change of temperature which produced 
it ? annoyance often follows removing persons 
from their native shores. A Scotch servant, who 
accompanied the captain of engineers and his lady 
to St. Kitts, was much discomfited, and openly 
reproached them ; she had willingly come as far 
as Barbadoes, but could not bear the idea of 
being so far from home as St. Kitts, and her 
mind acting upon this inconsistency, pacifica- 
tion was not easy. 

Dr. Madden, in his "Twelvemonth's Resi- 
dence in the West Indies/' gives a singular ac- 
count of an individual being immured in this 
asylum, who had written to him about his im- 
prisonment. He had once been a planter, after- 
wards a schoolmaster ; and for certain political 
peccadilloes of a poetical kind, he was incar- 
cerated in this madhouse. " The man assuredly, 
(says the Doctor) when I saw him, was no more 
insane than I was. I sent for the two principal 
keepers, and the matron of the hospital ; I asked 
their opinion of the man's sanity ; they all de- 

Y 



162 LETTERS FROM 

clared that he was perfectly sane. This poor 
man concludes his letter by assuring me of his 
sanity of mind ; and, by way of proving it, he 
encloses me a copy of a song of his. Now this, 
certainty, might be an equivocal proof of sound- 
ness of mind before a jury of physicians, 
furiously disposed against the " insana stadia" of 
rhyme, as old Burton speaks of similar inquisi- 
tors ; but though he will have it that all poets are 
mad, and that he who inflicts his verses on his 
friends is madder than his fellows, he by no 
means recommends that all such mad men should 
be immured. I made up my mind to write no 
poetry while I was in Jamaica ; from the period 
of my visit to this poor man, I had a salutary 
apprehension of a Kingston madhouse." 

I copy this account with two verses and chorus 
of the song for thy perusal, that thou mayest see 
how much farther the Jamacia literati have ad- 
vanced in their determination to crush Mel- 
pomene than our English reviewers, and their 
critical readers. 

TO LADY LIBERTY* 

" Oh ! who comes smiling on thy car, 

Aurora say — so brilliantly ? 
"Who is this other morning star, 

That dawns with day benignantly ? 

* This was written after the passing of the British Eman- 
cipation Act. 



THE WEST INDIES. 163 

"Who does not ken her bonnie smile ? 

She long has pined in jeopardy ; 
But now I bring to this fair isle 

Your own sweet lady — Liberty ! 

We'll lead her o'er St. Anna's grove, 

Thro' fairy dells of spicy trees ; 
The bonnie dame ! our queen of love, 

Her weary wings at length shall ease ; 
Enthroned on yon Blue Mountain peak, 

View Grande', " rolling rapidly," 
On Buxton hills the shrine we'll seek, 

Of our sweet lady — Liberty ! 

CHORUS. 

Hark ! now her song Jamaica sings, 
O'er hill and dale, o'er bower and tree ; 

"We consecrate the " land of springs" 
To lovely lady — Liberty !" 

The Birmingham testimonial, presented to 
Joseph Sturge before his departure, found its 
way here, and has firmly stamped him as a true 
and devoted philanthropist. Planters are like 
other men, desirous of showing attention to men 
of worth ; and on this occasion they have vied 
with each other. Many of them are endeavouring 
to make the best of what they consider a robbery: 
twenty millions in the eyes of such men is a very 
light matter, in comparison with the many tons 
weight of human flesh they have lost. Society here 
is in a most unnatural state. Slavery is so accurs- 
ed, it pollutes every spring of society; it is utterly 
opposed to christian principle; one proof of which 



164 



LETTERS FROM 



is, planters never defend it on that ground, or 
speak of their apprentices with christian senti- 
ments. Now, if Christianity bore slavery on its 
fruit- bearing branches, planters would refer us to 
that stem for its origin, on the ground that a tree 
and its fruits are inseparable. How pitiful is that 
state of society, when a man may sin to the utmost 
in sins which are allowed, and as colonists like 
sinning, and be esteemed! but if he acts up to the 
law of right and wrong, if that law is uncongenial, 
he is persecuted with rancour ; — exemplum, — Dr. 
Palmer.* 

Slavery is a canker-worm in all its labyrinthical 
twistings, no matter how named ; whether ap- 
prentice ship, rightful owner ship, or proprietary 
ship ; these ships are all first cousins to slave ship, 
which has long been denounced by the unanimous 
voice of the British public. What is now oc- 
curring is a convincing proof that it is well to 
call things by their right names, and then they can 
be understood : " aquce potor,jicum vocojicum." 

" "We have no need to quote the Stagyrite, 

To prove that smoke ascends, that snow is white." 

I give the planters credit for never having palmed 
a new name on the British public. Their negros 
were slaves, and the service they rendered slavery; 
but the pseudo philanthropy of Lord Stanley 
discovered that apprenticeship was a better term, 

* Dr. Palmer married a coloured woman. 



THE WEST INDIES. 165 

and would sound as a logical derivation from that 
wicked root. It was adopted 5 but, now, after 
two years, John Bull, with his argus eyes, sees 
that it is only a new name for an old enemy ; and 
he is so wrathful, I verily believe he will root out 
both the parent stock and the derivation ; and be 
more cautious for the future, than to give twenty 
millions for the privilege of changing one word for 
another. 

4th. I have had the pleasure of visiting J. 
Tinson, and of partaking of the privilege of 
christian converse, in his small, polite, and re- 
fined social circle. His family comprises a wife 
and daughter. On the last Sabbath I attended his 
Chapel ; it is much smaller than J. Gardiner's, 
in Queen-street. His service varies a little ; after 
reading a chapter in the Old Testament, he ex- 
pounds and comments on the verses, and then 
reads a chapter in the New, and does the same. 
He finds the negros are more benefited by this 
method than when the chapters pass without ex- 
planation. His sermon, which was impressive, 
concluded the service. Previously he prayed 
earnestly for a blessing on J. Sturge's visit of 
love. J. S. tells me this has been general 
throughout the island : it warms the heart when 
in a foreign country, we find such sympathy and 
interest. The audience as usual was most quiet : 
not a cough, not a hem to be heard. The Sab- 
bath is evidently respected in Kingston by all 
ranks ; there are few vehicles to be seen moving; 



166 LETTERS FROM 

hence much quietness in the streets. Negros 
deeply value christian observances ; and what a 
blessing it is they have not been withheld. In 
this good cause the missionaries are the labourers; 
but the government who has sanctioned it, and 
the whole island, are now reaping the benefit. 
Yes ! the planters are indebted for their safety 
and prosperity to the prevalence of christian 
principle by these devoted men ; it has enabled 
the afflicted, the distressed, the persecuted, to 
withstand the impetuosity of their enemies with 
patience and endurance ; and the victory will he 
theirs. From the support and countenance we 
receive, another proof is added that christians 
need not be afraid of doing good. I believe 
timorous minds are somewhat fearful of others 
stepping forward ; who, nevertheless, if they pos- 
sessed the same apprehended duty, would be bold 
and persevering* The Attorney General, Dowel 
O'Reily ; the Solicitor General, W. H. Ander- 
son; W. Ramsey; R. Hill, Under Secretary; 
Charles Harvey, and others, call openly, and 
visit us. With such advocates by our side, we 
march boldly on in the path of philanthropy : 
these pioneers are clearing the way; and the path 
which was but narrow, is daily becoming wider. 
The Baptist Minister, James Gardiner, drove 
me recently to an estate six miles in the country, 
to see a member of his congregation, who had 
been <e Obeahed" by an Obi man ; that is, an admin- 
istration of African witchcraft, and it has such 



THE WEST INDIES. 16/ 

Influence on the negros, that death has been known 
to follow : on this account, the laws are very 
severe against the operators, who are imprisoned 
and tried for their lives. The individual whom 
we visited, was an intelligent "quadroon/' a book- 
keeper on the estate ; he says that the Obi man 
called at his house, and asked him to change 
some silver; he offered what change he had ; Obi 
said it would not do, and went away muttering 
vengeance ; that night the bookkeeper had fright- 
ful dreams about Obi, and a severe pain seized 
his head and limbs ; he went to Obi, and asked 
him what he had done, and told him he would be 
punished : a boy afterwards called at his house, 
and told him he must look at his legs ; there were 
things to come out, though they had no sores at 
the time ; after examining them, the boy produced 
a basin with odd things in it, shells, bits of pipe, 
charcoal, insects, and feathers, which things he 
said he had extracted. The bottle and its con- 
tents I saw, and the man showed me his legs ; on 
one of them, there are now three irritable ulcers, 
and two on the other ; the sufferer is reduced so 
much, as to make his recovery doubtful. The 
Obi man is imprisoned waiting the event. The 
book-keeper's present state is one of actual dis- 
ease ; and of that kind, and to that degree, which 
would seem to be impossible to be produced 
solely by a terrified imagination : if not, it was 
a curious coincidence that disease should establish 
itself at the precise juncture, when Obi said he 



168 LETTERS FROM 

should be "Obeahed." In Africa all the inmates of 
a house are " Obeahed" at once, by nailing a bundle 
of witchcraft on the door; of which feathers and 
dead skins form a considerable part. Dr. Mad- 
den remarks, " There are two descriptions of 
Obeah ; one that is practised by means of incan- 
tations, and the other, by the administering of 
medicated potions : in former times, it is said, 
of poisons ; and these practitioners were called 
myal men. The " fetish' * is the African divinity, 
invoked by the negros in the practise of Obeah. 
When they take an oath, they say they " take 
the fetish;" and when they worship, they "make 
fetish." "In this, as in many other matters, the 
exertions of the Missionaries have been evidently 
beneficial to the negros : Obeah no longer has 
the power of producing mischief to the extent it 
formerly did." We bid adieu to the afflicted 
book-keeper, whose cottage was neat and com- 
fortable, and returned to Kingston, in company 
with an itinerant Baptist Minister, T. Thompson, 
also agent to the London Bible Society ; his con- 
versation interested me. Some time before when 
he paid a visit to Hayti, he was treated with 
cordiality by President Bover, and his black 
subjects ; T. T.'s opinion is, that their difficul- 
ties are not from idleness, but from other causes : 
one of which is, the large debt they owe to France, 
and not being able at present to pay it, all the 
young men become soldiers, to be prepared against 
any attempt to reduce them again to bondage : 



THE WEST INDIES. 169 

another is, the ban under which they have been 
placed by other communities : the ports of Ja- 
maica are shut against them, though the islands 
are not one hundred miles apart. Now, what 
would England be, if excommunicated by the 
rest of the world, and her commerce destroyed ? 
doubtless as poor. 

The Prime Minister told T he was as- 
tonished at the English having their court of 
judgment at the Havannah, for the liberated 
Africans, and which Africans are allotted out to 
the Spanish planters in Cuba, as apprentices, on 
conditions that they make annual returns of them, 
whether dead or living. For this purpose the 
planters give them names, and make returns of 
two or three of these new names dying every 
year, though their bodies are still living. By this 
means the liberated Africans are all nominally 
registered as dead and buried ; but the slave gang 
is complete and alive ; in fact the planter has 
converted the apprenticed Africans into perma- 
nent slaves. Silly John Bull ! in this way thy 
money is wasted ; in the outfit of cruizers to ex- 
tinguish the slave trade ; but indeed to supply 
Cuba with apprentices, or in simple English, with 

slaves. Boyer's minister said to T , if these 

Africans were sent to Hayti, we should be glad 
of them ; we should not require any appren- 
ticeship ; they should be free — really free at once. 

T informs me that the manners of life as 

travelling, are much the same as in Jamaica ; that 
the women and children are much better clothed ; 
z 



170 LETTERS FROM 

and that the Haytians in the arts of civilised life 
are far advanced. In Port au Prince, the capital, 
there are five public government schools; all re- 
ligions are tolerated, and T had free permis- 
sion to preach the gospel, and his audiences were 
large ; the languages spoken are the Spanish and 
French. Cuba is a dark spot. A Scotch gen- 
tleman, recently from thence, tells me he was 
assured from competent authority, that three 
thousand African slaves had been landed there 
in the first two months of this present year. 
Doubtless all this outrage will terminate in the 
negros having possession of the countries into 
which they are transplanted, from the simple 
reason that they thrive, whilst the whites de- 
generate, unless their loyalty is insured on the 
basis of equal rights ; when this has taken place 
in the British colonies, it will secure them to the 
British empire. I long that Jamaica might be- 
come a beacon to these benighted regions ; and 
it would, with a sound spirited governor, and 
with its ports opened to Hayti, which would be 
the best of policy; if the home government 
would be fully just, the planters would yield ; 
they are blind at present to their own interests. 

6th. This letter follows my last quickly; 
Joseph Sturge will be the bearer of it ; he has 
concluded to sail in the Orbit for New York to- 
morrow morning. Thomas Harvey and I re- 
main a few weeks longer, that we may extend our 
observations and investigations to some other 
parishes not yet visited. 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 171 



LETTER XII. 

Yallahs, near Kingston, Uh. Month, 9th., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

The last few days have been variously employed ; 
on the afternoon of the fifth, I accompanied other 
mutual friends, to see J. Sturge embark from 
Port Royal. J. Gardiner accompanied us; hav- 
ing a station there, he could, at the same time, 
visit his flock. The Chapel was formerly a 
dwelling house, the lower rooms still answer 
that purpose, and the meeting house is ex- 
tended over them; the reverse of what may be 
observed in Demerara. After tea, we attended 
the evening service; probably two hundred indi- 
viduals were present, though no notice was given j 
on seeing their Minister, the inhabitants know 
there will be a meeting; "fama volat;" and a con- 
gregation assembles. J. G. conveyed to his audi- 
ence practical instruction^ in a simple manner, 
elucidating the life of the Patriarch Abraham, and 
enforcing the advantage of a pious life, and a walk 
by faith : his auditors were, without many ex- 
ceptions, black or coloured. This station is often 
visited by a young man of the name of White- 



]/2 LETTERS FROM 

hokNj who has charge of the Queen-street Chapel 
boys' school ; an estimable character ; the same 
may be said of the family; one brother has sacri- 
ficed patronage and wealth, declining the pro- 
fession of law, which was open to him, and has 
devoted himself to the Missionary service ; he 
now occupies a station on the Island ; another, 
who is in England, has freed his apprentices, 
and given up his compensation. 

At ten p. m., J. S. went on board, leaving us 
to partake of Missionary kindness. Early next 
morning, T. Harvey and I walked round Fort 
Charles, situated at the point of the Peninsula, 
and defending the narrow entrance to the inner 
harbour ; on the opposite shore, we descried the 
apostles' battery, so named from having twelve 
guns ; a far fetched allusion ; and farther up the 
Bay, stands Fort Augusta, an imposing military 
station. The Orbit had weighed anchor, was glid- 
ing gently away, and carrying our friend and com- 
panion J. S., onward in his orbit of philanthropy 
and love. We visited the naval hospital, an 
admirable edifice ; the building is surrounded by 
a piazza, extending from the ground to the roof ; 
this balcony, at the sides, is three hundred feet 
long ; the sun is thus shut out from the whole of 
the wards, and the convalescents can walk in the 
shade at all times ; the jalousies of the piazza are 
painted green, giving a picturesque and lively 
effect to the whole : the hospital, at present, is 
almost void, yet in a few weeks, the yellow fever 



THE WEST INDIES. 1J3 

might put every bed in requisition. Excepting 
the fort and hospital, Port Royal is shabby in its 
appearance : this is Port Royal the second ; it 
has never rivalled the first, which was swallowed 
up by an earthquake in three minutes, in 1692 : 
its remains are said to be yet visible at the bottom 
of the sea, on close inspection : the present town 
is a very hot unsheltered place ; and the smell of 
salt fish, and other sea port effluvia, extend 
through it. Salt fish is a chief article of diet, 
and when acted upon by the sun is highly odor- 
iferous j and inclines him who is sensitive, "cor- 
rugere narem :" the shops where it is kept, and 
the negros who carry it about, are perceptible to 
the olfactory nerves, at a considerable distance. 
The annoyance, however, par eminence, at Port 
Royal, is the howling of dogs through the night ; 
one begins, but the solus soon becomes a chorus 
of twelve or twenty voices, and the most extra- 
ordinary canine combinations of sounds take place, 
expelling at once silence and sleep from the town. 
After an early breakfast, we returned to Kingston, 
a sail of only a few miles ; but those few are 
stamped with the sublimest scenery, embracing 
the characteristics of European lake and mountain 
vistas, and possessing other features, peculiar to 
the tropics. Kingston opens prettily out, ex- 
tending up the gradually ascending Liguanea 
plain ; behind the city is Up-Park Camp, looking 
down upon the town, the shipping, and the bay, 
as if watchful of the interests of all, backed by 
the lowest ranges of hills, 



174 LETTERS FROM 

Which are out topt, and these again overlooked ;— 
Behold St. Catherine's Peak* outvies them all ; 
Yet still no mastery, for hills behind 
Upwards on high ascend, till where they meet 
That peak so blue, which towers unto the skies. 

Jamaica scenery acquires one of its features 
from this blueness of its highest mountain ranges; 
the nearer heights are beheld clothed with trees, the 
more distant ones are softened down to a delicate 
blueishtint, which adds the utmost grace of nature's 
tinting to the scene ; the blue peak itself is often im- 
perceptible, being delicately veiled with a vapoury 
wreath, even whilst the heavens are clear and 
bright as crystal ; no disfigurement this ; it is the 
the most tender commingling of earth with hea- 
ven imaginable, and fills the mind with unfading 
impressions of the glorious harmonies of this one 
universe. 

Yesterday, T. Harvey and I left Kingston for 
this place, nineteen miles ; five o'clock, a.m. is 
the hour most approved of for journeying ; be- 
tween which hour and eight, there is sufficient 
time to accomplish a long stage, and the same 
towards evening ; by which arrangement horses 
work as well as they do at "home," and take 
the year throughout certainly better. Though we 
were moving at this early hour, the " idle and im- 
provident" were up before us ; it was market day, 

* In round numbers St. Catherine's Peak is four thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, the Blue Peak eight thousand 
feet. 



THE WEST INDIES, 175 

and an open market place, at the edge of the town, 
was thronged with black hucksters ; others were 
pouring in, and we met very many, laden heavily 
on their heads, earnestly trudging for their profit : 
a busier scene could not be found in industrious 
England ; yet, this was on the Saturday, a day 
which the planters said could not be converted 
into a market day, because the negros had always 
desecrated the Sabbath to that purpose ! yet the 
change has been at once effected ; and I believe 
there is no town in England with as many inhabi- 
tants as Kingston so quiet and orderly on the sab- 
bath day. With respect to the poor negro, language 
itself has been turned upsicie down against him; and 
next to America, we have committed the greatest 
folly. The Declaration of Independence, signed 
July 4th., 1776, at Philadelphia, by fifty- six 
American citizens, is the greatest outrage upon 
good sense, ever palmed upon the world, when 
we estimate the sentiments expressed, by the 
acts of the American people towards the blacks. 
The British Imperial Act of Apprenticeship, dated 
1833, stands second as to perversion of truth. 
Negros were to learn to be free ; of whom ? of 
the planters; those planters who had acknowledged 
they never could teach them to be free, but would 
keep them as slaves ? Were they to learn the 
cultivation of cane or coffee grounds ? the mas- 
ters were incapable of teaching them, and had need 
of being taught. What an apprenticeship day 
was this ? binding hundreds of thousands of 



1J6 LETTERS FROM 

human beings, to persecution, misery, and woe, 
and calling it apprenticeship ; taking the indul- 
gences away from poor lying-in women, and call- 
ing it apprenticeship ; forcing the unrecovered 
mothers into the field, by which numbers of 
infants have perished, and calling it, apprentice- 
ship. And what a day of premiums ! hundreds 
of thousands, and millions upon millions, given 
away so easily, and pocketed so pleasantly by 
the masters ; many residing in London, who re- 
ceived the money for instructing apprentices, at 
the distance of from four to five thousand miles ! 
Well might the negros say, " we understand free- 
dom and slavery, but we do'nt understand appren- 
ticeship :" nor will the investigations of " learned 
pundits," or the " witty apothegms of professors 
and syndics/' ever enable them to do so. "As the 
plague distances all lesser diseases," so do the 
American Declaration of Independence, and the 
British Imperial Act of Apprenticeship, distance 
all common sense; the outrage of both these do- 
cuments, falls upon the unfortunate negros ; let 
them, therefore, descend together, yes side by 
side, to posterity. To return to our journey • 
our road lay along the coast, due east; two miles 
from town, it winds round the base of a hill, and 
passes under an archway at Rock Fort, a forti- 
fication wholly commanding the pass ; here also, 
is the terminus of the inner Bay ; the narrow 
strip of land forming it, uniting with the shore. 
Again we left the beach a little, and pursued our 



THE WEST INDIES. 177 

varied route ; sometimes enclosed betwixt walls 
of cactus, twenty feet high ; then shaded as if in 
a Warwickshire lane ; for many of the shrubs 
have an English appearance. We reached J. 
Tinsox's to breakfast, and cordiality welcomed 
us through an open door. This field engaged J. 
T's. attention a few years ago ; members of his 
Kingston congregation resided in this neighbour- 
hood ; he pitied the arduous exertions necessary 
for their attendance at Chapel. In his first visit to 
Yallahs, he preached in an outhouse belonging to 
a tavern keeper; for this indulgence the innkeep- 
er's license was taken away. He, therefore, bought 
three acres of land ; has erected a neat Chapel, and 
is now roofing in a large school house. He has 
had two hundred pounds towards it from the Lon- 
don Committee ; the School building alone will 
cost more ; the contributions of the negros are his 
chief resource, but St. David's is a poor parish, 
being mountainous : when completed J. T. will have 
no legal interest in the property. A Missionary's 
walk is one of faith and of disinterestedness, un- 
known to worldly minds. After breakfast we 
walked to the negro village, on a neighbouring 
pen, and looked in upon the apprentices ; we 
were much interested with an old Mandingo, in 
whose veins royal blood was circulating ; he told 
us the names of seven different African kings : he 
reads and writes Arabic, and is very choice of a 
book in that language, perhaps a Koran : he 
wrote a grace for us with a steady hand, yet his 
A A 



178 LETTERS FROM 

life has passed in slavery, and he is too old to 
benefit by freedom ; nay, he may be turned out 
of his hut after 1840, and suffer want. In his 
solitude he has found companions ; a brook runs 
through his master's garden, of which he has 
charge; and he has taught a large mullet to come 
and feed out of his hand, at the call of Tom ; 
great Tom being well treated, taught other little 
Toms to come also ; and now, instead of one, a 
drove appears, when the invitation goes forth : no 
unprejudiced mind could behold this scene without 
moralising, and saying ; is not that royal Man- 
dingo as capable of appreciating kindness, as 
those simple mullets ? and is not the fact of his 
having tamed those timorous fish, a proof, that 
the tenderest chords of humanity vibrate in his 
bosom, and that he knows so well how to apply 
them, as to be able to draw the finny tribe from 
their haunts ? those mullets made me ashamed 
of my whiter skin, knowing how the blacks have 
been outraged by its assumed authority : exem- 
plum : a delicate man, a short time since, was 
ordered to go from an estate to Montego Bay, 
thirteen miles, for a firkin of butter ; he went to 
busha, (the overseer, bookkeeper, or proprietor) 
to ask the loan of a mule, as he was unable to 
carry it ; busha denied him ; he therefore went to 
the field to work ; he was had up before the 
Special Magistrate, who ordered him to gaol, and 
to receive thirty-nine lashes, which were inflicted 
as a punishment for disobedience. 



THE WEST INDIES. 179 

In the evening we attended scripture reading 
and prayer, in the Chapel, the neighbours around 
stepping in ; it was a peaceful scene. A vener- 
able Missionary reading the scriptures to poor 
apprentices, as it were in the wilderness, apart 
from the censure of man ; a pastor endeavouring 
to comfort a sickly and weeping flock, made so, 
by those now entrusted with the lofty boon of 
fitting immortal souls for freedom : vile prosti- 
tution ! can the sacred flame of liberty ever burn 
brightly over such a polluted stream ? 

" Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 
Auri sacra fames !" 

This is the sabbath, and we have had a 
favourable opportunity of witnessing missionary 
proceedings. J.T. endeavours to visit this station 
at least once a month ; in the intermediate time 
he has a lay assistant ; there has been an attend- 
ance to-day of several hundreds ; asses, mules, 
and horses brought the more distant ones. 
During the morning, one member was read out, 
two were married, and the sacrament was ad- 
ministered to near one hundred ; it was a solemn 
occasion, and deeply impressed, may I not say, 
on all present, from the minister's close dealing : 
the communicants were evidently bowed in spirit. 
At the end of the ceremony, there was a collection 
amongst the communicants ; the noise from the 
silver pieces sounded worldly in my ears; as if dis- 
proving that they were buying " wine without 



180 LETTERS FROM 

money, and without price." I know those little 
sums are laid aside for the relief of the aged and 
destitute, and for sacramental use ; nevertheless, 
the jingle of silver is grating and inappropriate 
at such a time. 

Between services the minister was engaged in 
private with members of his flock ; others sat in 
groups round the chapel and under the trees, par- 
taking of their own simple refreshments ; their 
costumes were various, though white gowns pre- 
vailed ; and nothing looks better, with a black 
jetty face, than the snowy white of West India 
drapery. Straw bonnets and hats* are more com- 
mon than in Demerara ; one can hardly realise the 
belief that such a company is formed of poor ap- 
prentices, but so it is in great measure ; and they 
will come twenty miles to partake of this christian 
fellowship. Great is the attachment shown to a 
worthy pastor, and presents of choice fruits and 
and vegetables flow in ; we have partaken of pine 
apple, melon, water melon, cocoa nut, star apple, 
all presented by the kind hands of his auditors. 
Negros feel a great interest in a station which 
has risen up under their own eyes ; they collect 
every month towards the expense, and call it their 
own meeting house. 

1 lth. Yesterday morning we visited the parish 

* An anecdote may here be mentioned, which has been told 
me since I returned, as it is very characteristic of the negro's 
aptitude for imitation : — 

They were so delighted with Joseph St urge, as to wish 



THE WEST INDIES, 



181 



workhouse of St. David's, four miles distant ; it has 
been recently erected, and is scarcely in operation ; 
it stands near the banks of the Yallahs river, three 
hundred feet broad ; mountains rise from the very 
margin. In the rainy season this bed contains an 
impetuous torrent ; at the present time it is a rivu- 
let ; over it a chain bridge was being suspended 
wide enough for carriages some time back ; ere its 
completion, half the fabric, the whole length, gave 
way ; the other half is broad enough for a foot pas- 
senger, it is held up by only one suspension chain ; 
we ventured over for the novelty of crossing a 
chain bridge in Jamaica ; the effect was too much 
like rope dancing to be pleasant, I refreshed 
myself with ripe tamarinds, gathering them from 
the trees, apparently of no value; the pods are 
nearly as long as kidney beans, within which are 
the seeds and acidulous delicious pulp. We re- 
turned by a school under the patronage of Bishop 
Philpotts. Forty children were in attendance — 
upwards of fifty on the list — they had made good 
progress : till last autumn there was no school in 
the parish : J. Tinson's would have been finished 
before now, if he had had funds ; but having begun 
it without, its progress has been checked : rivalry 
in good works is very commendable, and there can 
be no objection to bishops taking the lead. Near to 
the chapel is a very large silk cotton tree : (ceiba :) 

to retain something to remind them of him ; for this purpose 
they fixed upon his "broad brim," and resolved to wear ex- 
actly the same pattern, under the title of the Sturge Hat. 



182 LETTERS FROM 

this is one of the few deciduous trees Jamaica can 
boast of; its spring leaves are now expanding, and 
their lighter green contrasts pleasantly with 
darker shades around. One peculiarity of this 
tree consists in its huge limbs, leaving the trunk 
at right angles. Nature to support them causes 
roots as large to run along the surface of the 
ground, and between the two, the trunk projects 
out, which forms a pillar for the support of the 
former : hence the stem is not unlike a huge 
fluted column. Amidst such a living mass of 
timbers and foliage, an architect might advance 
still further in the study of orders and designs ; 
he would have no difficulty in imagining amidst 
the tracery of boughs, porticoes, pediments, corri- 
dors, facades, architraves, and pilasters. 

This morning we left Yallahs, and came to 
Morant Harbour, twelve miles, to breakfast, ac- 
companied kindly by J. T. : the road is pleasant, 
in part along the edge of the breakers, sweeping 
the shore. After breakfast a Missionary of the 
London Society (M. Hodge) accompanied us 
to the Court House, where there is a parish 
school. We inspected a school house, which the 
Bishop has nearly completed ; then we visited 
H. ? s Missionary School, conducted by a young 
Englishman, ( — Howell:) this is not gratuitous, 
the attendance is nevertheless pretty good. Bishop 
Philpotts is very zealous # in forwarding education : 
it is said his zeal went so far some time since, as to 
desire to have catechumens amongst the free chil- 



THE WEST INDIES. 183 

dren on each estate, and the overseers were to be 
the catechists : this was so preposterous, and such 
an outrage to decency from the character of the 
overseers, that a satirical article was published, 
recommending him, if he was so nonsuited for 
fellow labourers, to send to England for some cast 
iron clergymen, which would advance the interests 
of religion quite as fast as overseers ; with this 
recommendation they could do no harm. The 
worthy Bishop, however ignorant he might be 
of the character of these estate officers, was 
not to be ridiculed out of his philanthropy and 
zeal, and he promotes religious instruction to the 
utmost. We found the gaol empty, the penal 
gang being at work at some distance. At the 
workhouse there were thirty undergoing their 
sentences. The tread mill was rotating with the 
power of four prisoners : two black men, one black 
woman, and one white sailor. The old adage, 
" many hands make light work," is reversed with 
tread wheels, alias shin mills 3 with them the 
fewer the legs, the lighter the labour ; the wheel 
going slowly, the treaders have time to gain the 
next descending step. The allotted time for these 
distressed objects to be on the wheel, was every 
alternate quarter of an hour through the day, and 
their diet one herring, and one pound ofloose corn 
meal, (maize ;) of this they endeavour to make a 
kind of stir-about. The English sailor was under- 
going a month's imprisonment for deserting ; he 
complained bitterly, and was literally broken 



184 LETTERS FROM 

down ; humbled he must have been, for the driver 
was a black man, with a cow skin in his hand. 

Our attentive friends, M. Hodge and his lady, 
accompanied us in the afternoon to Belvidere; 
they are on the point of embarking for Europe, on 
account of the health of the latter. The Mission- 
aries wives I have been introduced to, are refined 
and accomplished ; but the climate and their 
duties, often undermine their health. Belvidere 
is a noble estate : the great house has a balcony 
thirty yards long, fronting the sea ; it may be one 
mile from the shore ; the cane grounds descend 
thereto, skirted by cocoa nut palms; neighbouring 
and distant hills form an imposing back ground, and 
complete the panoramic spectacle. The sick house 
is a clean, commodious, handsome building, and 
the children and others confined under a prevalent 
epidemic, measles, well attended to : the negros' 
cottages were like so many harbors in bowers of 
ever-greens ; and close at hand, the inmates had 
built a chapel at their own expense, spacious 
enough for hundreds ; neither mahogany, glass, 
nor doors, formed part of the structure ; but there 
was a pulpit, and one substantial adornment, 
simplicity, around and throughout ; service was 
performed in it every sabbath. An intelligent 
negro acted as our Cicerone through the village, 
conducting us into his dwelling, where he waited 
on us with due politeness, in handing water : from 
the evident air of comfort around, I was certain 
that " Aristus would not be so amiable, were it 



THE WEST INDIES. 185 

not for his Aspasia ; nor Aspasia so much es- 
teemed were it not for her Aristus \" yet distress 

sits over those unaspiring seats. Count F , 

the proprietor, a French nobleman, resides in 
France, and he is not at present liberally disposed. 
The provision grounds are in the mountains, and 
the watchmen being removed, cattle and thieves 
destroy the fruits of their exertions ; so that 
instead of having provisions to sell, they suffer 
scarcity themselves, only being allowed one pound 
of salt fish per week ; in crop time they are de- 
frauded and overworked, and these teasing im- 
positions, which are beneath a proprietor's dignity, 
destroy their peace. 

15th. We left Morant Harbor early on the 
twelfth, and came along the coast to Port Morant, 
then turned to the left into a mountainous district, 
reaching Bath to breakfast, a remarkably pretty 
village, celebrated for its hot sulphur spring : an 
avenue of trees (Tahitian apple) ornaments the 
street ; their crimson blossoms were then falling, 
and literally strewed the ground with their ruby 
petals. We visited the botanic garden, which, 
for want of funds, is suffering from neglect ; the 
head gardener, a negro, was conversible ; we asked 
him whose property he, with two or three girls 
at work, were ; he could not tell, but supposed 
they belonged to the garden. The Mico school 
interested us, though only established about 

three months, under the care of R , from 

England ; a new school room is about being 

BB 



186 



LETTERS FROM 



built, as the present one is too crowded : all 
the instruction is conveyed by singing, even to the 
multiplication table. The mistress after asking 
scripture questions, desired her little black pupils 
to question her on the patriarchs, and very perti- 
nent their questions were. Schools on the Mico 
foundation are spreading rapidly, and will be the 
means of incalculable benefit. The funds have 
been obtained by a decision of Lord Brougham's. 
Lady Mico, near two centuries ago, left a sum of 
money to redeem christians out of slavery in 
Africa ; for want of claims the principal accumu- 
lated to one hundred and thirty thousand pounds. 
Lord Brougham, then Chancellor, decided that 
he should best act up to the spirit of the will, by 
applying the interest to instruct negro children, 
or in other words, to aid in redeeming Africans 
from christian bondage : a happy decision. Go- 
vernment has aided the fund also by a very liberal 
grant ; so that it is not easy to conceive the start 
which education has taken in Jamaica. In the 
afternoon we walked to the Sulphur Spring, one 
mile or more from town, up a deep ravine ; a 
good road conducts the visitor, and bamboo sheds 
are erected about every hundred yards to protect 
him, should it rain. The water flows out at a 
temperature of 120°; baths have been erected, but 
few visitors are attracted. At a little distance a 
charitable bath house has been built, which is 
tumbling down. Iron pipes have also been laid 
to conduct the water to the town ; the expense 



THE WEST INDIES. 18/ 

was futile ; they did not fall down like the St. 
David's chain bridge, but appear to have been 
blown up, and lie exposed and uncared for. The at- 
tendant, an apprentice, accommodated us with a 
delightful bath; solitude was one ingredient. We 
asked him who he belonged to : he believed to 
the water ; how amusing ! an apprentice to hot 
water ! A good premium was also paid ; but who 
received it ? The water appeared to be his only 
companion, except a humming bird, which had 
built its nest on a branch close by the entrance. 
I was ashamed the British apprenticeship had 
found its way up this sublime gorge, and I felt a 
strong interest in this negro, but not so much 
pity as for others. I had rather be an ap- 
prentice in this deep solitude to hot spouting 
water, than in the open vale, to a dashing tread 
wheel. We revelled here amidst nature's loveliest 
growths, the scenery in that abyss being almost 
overpowering : numberless were the shades into 
which sunshine never peeped ; the depths forbad 
not, but the foliage did. The tree fern is remark- 
ably elegant, from twelve to twenty feet high, and 
crowned with its palmy tuft. The graceful bam- 
boo pleased me exceedingly ; its beautiful green 
canes, eighty or a hundred feet high, with their 
delicate foliage and pliant nodding stems were the 
acme of elegance. Sometimes we were walking 
under the shades of these living masts ; then they 
were seen waving on the hill sides and overtop- 
ping the nearest summit; they appeared placed 



188 LETTKRS FROM 

there as pastime for hurricanes, yet hurricanes 
hurt them not ; they grow in clusters, and 
from their pliancy never clash ; neighbour leans 
upon neighbour, and all are preserved. In the 
evening we walked to the top of the hills forming 
the ravine, and met with nature in her sublimest 
mood : she was very communicative \ pointed out 
to us the blue mountains, which are her highest 
seat in Jamaica, and when night's curtain fell 
over them, she riveted our attention to the lesser 
elevations, and finally attended us into the valley 
to our lodgings : her company was charming ; and 
admiration her only fee. 

The next morning we pursued our journey to 
Manchineal, through part of Plantain Garden 
River district, a most verdant valley, devoted to 
cane cultivation : on our way we breakfasted at 
Belle Castle, the station of a Baptist Missionary, J. 
Kingdon ; situated amongst woods, on the scar 
of a hill, commanding a noble sea view ; the trade 
wind here felt bracing, after travelling some hours 
in the valley. It is not uncommon for the hill re- 
sidents to complain of cold, with the thermometer 
at 79°. We were kindly entertained at J. K's., 
and very glad to accept his attention, fifteen miles 
being tedious in a hot sun, along unknown, indif- 
ferent roads : as we approached the house I dis- 
appointed the turkey buzzards of a breakfast ; 
they were busy upon a yellow snake, dead but 
warm ; I considered the skin my property so 
took the reptile into the gig. Some naturalists 



THE WEST INDIES. 189 

say the (vultur aura) only feeds upon carrion ; 
others say they kill snakes, " lis sub judice est ;" 
however, here they were round a snake reeking 
warm, and commencing their dejeuner without 
an individual in sight, who could have slain it ; cir- 
cumstantial evidence was here strong that they can 
kill, and confirmed to my mind that they do not con- 
fine themselves to game. During the afternoon we 
visited a neighbouring estate, Happy Grove ; the 

resident proprietor, G. C , Esq., is noted for 

his excellent manufacture of arrow root. Arrow 
root loves rich, moist, shaded soil ; its leaf is not 
unlike our lily of the valley, the root is the size 
of a large radish : this root is crushed into a 
pulp at a mill ; the pulp is mixed with water, 
agitated and repeatedly washed till perfectly clean, 
then allowed to settle; afterwards it is dried gradu- 
ally in a stove, and finally exposed to the sun ; after 
which it is packed up in its concrete form for market. 
Some of the younger apprentices on this estate, 
were wretched in their appearance, being much 
oppressed and diseased ; one was an " aboo" boy, 
or dirt eater ; his master gave up all hopes of his 
recovery, as he always relapsed into the habit, 
when from under the strictest vigilance. In the 
evening we came on to Manchineal, and are visit- 
ing R. Chamberlaine, a conscientious Special 
Magistrate, a coloured gentleman ; his situation 
is a trying one ; he succeeded a Magistrate who 
had the credit of being a planter's man, and because 
he will not follow on in the same path, a combina- 



190 LETTERS FROM 

tion has been formed against him; false charges have 
been drawn up 3 and presented to the Governor, with 
a petition for his removal ; so violent is the feel- 
ing against him, he is doubtful of personal safety : 
after he has answered the charges, most likely a 
Commission of Inquiry will be appointed; he does 
not fear the result ; he is much needed here. 
Reports of heavy grievances, in this neighbour- 
hood, are already sounding in our ears. 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 191 



LETTER XIII. 

Kingston, Uh. Month, 22nd., 1837. 

My Dear F r. 

I will endeavour in a summary way to run 
over the incidents which have come under our 
notice since arriving under R. Chamberlaine's 
hospitable roof, at Manchineal, on the 13th. T. 
Harvey's industrious pen will furnish fuller de- 
tails ; he allows nothing of interest to pass by un- 
noticed, and his faithful delineations will be an 
evidence of his persevering industry. One morn- 
ing we visited several estates : Williams' Field, 
Hector's River, Grange Hill. Though instruc- 
tive, it is very unpleasant to visit estates with an 
unpopular magistrate. The overseers were how- 
ever civil to us, but behaved as if they thought 
we were come to spy out the weakness of the 
land. My impressions are very unfavourable as 
to the working of the present system in this 
neighbourhood ; a persecuting spirit is rankling 
and active ; the sick houses are the worst I have 

seen. At Grange Hill we saw a Dr. W. , the 

son of a methodist minister : he acknowledges he 
came out anti- slavery, but now confesses his 



192 



LETTERS FROM 



knowledge of the negros' character has com- 
pletely changed his views. A little farther ex- 
planation also crossed my mind, which he did not. 
take into account, and which has been probably 
an important item in his conversion ; viz. — that 
he is now living at a planter's table, and being paid 
from his purse. The following day the Court was 

opened at the Police Station. Dr. W. called 

upon R. C. on his way to the court ; he had 

never attended before. During conversation with 
R. Chamberlain, he enquired, " shall you have 
many apprentices to f fum' to-day, (meaning to 
flog,) because it would be something of a treat in 
this neighbourhood now you are here." He said 
this as a sneer upon R. C. — — , knowing he was 
not a flogging magistrate. We afterwards at- 
tended the Court, which was held at the Police 
Station, erected on a "wooded knoul," and sur- 
rounded by similar wooded elevations : it is the 
site of an old fortification, part of the walls still 
exist, and assist in forming the court yard, in the 
corners of which are the solitary cells, damp with 
murky vapour. Covvper tells us " solitude has 
nothing gloomy in it, if the soul points upwards," 
and I never beheld a more delightful place for 
solitude than this woody retreat ; it was indeed as 
if " Birnam wood had come to Dunsinane." 

" Fair parks spread wide, where Adam Bell might reign, 
With Clym o' the Clough were they alive again." 

The sight of those sepulchral closets, however, 
chased far away my rural reveries ) I had only 



THE WEST INDIES. 193 

to fancy one of the doors shut upon me. to intro- 
duce me to the horrors. Being thus, as it were, 
impelled back into my apprenticeship cogitations, 
when on the point of escape, my mind was again 
fitted to attend the Special Magistrate's Court, 
which, to say the least of it, was most disrepu- 
table to the planters. The following is a short out- 
line of some of the cases : two women were brought 
up to be punished for disobedience; a month 
before, they consented, on certain conditions, to 
work over time, and when afterwards requested, 
they refused. R. C. inquired of the overseer, if 
he had performed his part of the contract, in 
affording the indulgences agreed to ? No, he 
had not complied in any way. Neither shall I 
comply in punishing them, said R. C, or to that 
effect, and dismissed them : his predecessor would 
probably have sent them to the "shin mill." A 
man was charged with disobedience ; he was a 
watchman, and as a punishment for theft, was 
ordered to work in the field ; he went to busha 
for a hoe, one was not given to him, so he 
went elsewhere, and was therefore brought up 
to be punished. "Had the man," inquired the 
Magistrate, "a hoe given him to work with-?" 
No. Dismissed. Another feeble crippled old man, 
whose office was hog tender, had been ordered not 
to open the gate to the Special Magistrate, when 
he came on to the estate ; he acted contrariwise, 
having opened the gate ; as a punishment he was 
ordered into the field, to work with a huge hoe, 
c c 



J94 LETTERS FROM 

and which he was not to sharpen in his master's 
time : the poor man produced a great rusty hoe, 
which might well daunt his weakly arms : R. C. told 
him he might mind his pigs, and look to him for 
protection. Another complained that he and his 
matties had to work task work against their con- 
sent i viz., each of them, per diem, to dig up six 
bushels of arrow root, and replant the ground ; 
no matter whether the individual was strong or 
weak, or whether the crop was a good one or not, 
the same quantity was required. The proprietor, 
G. C, said, "I expect the apprentices will have 
their own way, but my turn will come soon ;" 
alluding to the probability of R. C's. removal 
from office : this case was deferred till the ma- 
gistrate visited the estate. Another apprentice, 
from the same estate, wished to buy his freedom ; 
his proprietor, to increase the valuation, said he 
was one of his best men, a carpenter and mason of 
good workmanship ; on investigation, it came out 
that the man had doubtlessly, in the course of 
his life, sawn a board, and that five years before 
he had plastered a wall \ but since then he had 
been in the field : he was valued at sixty pounds ; 
his owner complained that it was not near enough, 
though to hired men he only gave one shilling per 
diem, which amounts to forty-five pounds for the re- 
maining three years of servitude. Another appren- 
tice wished to be valued ; his master acknowledged 
he was a non-prandial, but said there was a verbal 
agreement betwixt them, entered into in 1834, 



THE WEST INDIES. 195 

that if the indulgences were continued, he would 
work till 1840; on being questioned as to the 
agreement, he produced a written one signed in 
1836; this being an illegal document, the valu- 
ation was deferred. Two women, one near her 
confinement, the other more distant, complained 
of being made to dig cane holes, a full quota ; 
the overseer sent a letter to the Magistrate, which 
stated the opinion of their medical attendant to 
be, that they were both fit for field labour. R. G. 
chose to differ from that inhuman doctor, and to 
be guided by his own humanity, rather than by 
another's science. All the cases were of this 
tyrannical nature, the decisions gave great offence, 
and R. Chamberlaine was openly insulted in 
his office; the ill will of the planters boiled over, 
and we were deeply convinced of the difficulty a 
conscientious Magistrate is subjected to; no sum 
can repay him, and with only one satisfaction, 
that of doing right ; he is in hourly danger, 
from the Governor's yielding to the crafty designs 
of his enemies, of being displaced. 

On Sabbath-day, the 16th, we went over to 
Belle Castle to breakfast. The chapel is attached 
to the house ; the negros soon began to assemble 
for worship; yes, an hour before the time, — it ap- 
peared to me that they were glad to leave the 
plantation, and come within the missionary en- 
closure. After morning service, we conversed 
with a few from each estate ; their situation dis- 
tressed us : this is an exceedingly oppressed dis- 



196 



LETTERS FROM 



trict. Many were the complaints we listened to 9 
and many more we might have heard : but mere 
listening to grievances without the power of re- 
dressing them is heavy work : the most heart- 
rending were from Hector's River, an estate close 
at hand. For any or for no offence the poor negros 
are shut up in the black hole for days together; 
and they are become so sickly and feeble, their 
numbers are reducing fast : deaths take place daily. 
The manager has a character for unmitigated op- 
pression, though he has only one foot out of the 
grave; one of his sides is paralysed, yet his perse- 
cutions cease not. This individual we did not see 
when we visited the estate the day before ; but we 
saw another overseer, Brown, very lame and in- 
firm ; and his bitterness is as intense as the mana- 
ger's. The apprentices say their poultry is taken 
without any acknowledgment ; that their grounds 
are robbed of vegetables; and that they are in 
danger of being famished : the tale of miseries per- 
petrating on this estate has completely hectored 
my mind. Properties managed in this way will 
be useless after 1840 ; many of the negros will be 
dispirited and infirm, and those who have strength 
left, will remove elsewhere. Time occupied in 
hearing complaints from these oppressed and heart- 
broken sufferers whose chief comfort seemed to 
arise from attending worship at the peaceful resi- 
dence of their ministers, passed painfully. 

In the evening we returned to Manchineal, and 
the following morning we rode to Windsor Forest* 



THE WEST INDIES. 19J 

nine miles distant, to breakfast. The road 
part of the way followed the sinuosities of the 
coast, with lofty crags on our left hand : these in 
Europe would have been naked or covered with 
moss ; here they were clothed from bottom to 
top by a creeping plant, with leaves as large 
as those of a gourd; its local name is "five 
fingered/' from its leaves being digitated; their 
effect was most elegant ; spread over the whole 
face of the precipice, as if in the tropics, even 
rocks could produce the most lavish luxuriance. 
The scene was novel to us, yet one which an 
artist's skill might have compassed : every item 
of the combination was so well defined, aswell 
as the colouring. 

Forthwith the Limner, with his pliant brush, 
And with his colours, pallet, and his easel, 

First paints a river, and then paints a rush, 
The Milk Weed, Golden Rod, and prickly Teasel; 

Upon his canvass he transplants the scene, 

Rivers and rocks embowered in evergreen. 

This estate belongs to a local magistrate, 
Quelsh ; he bought it cheap, being out of culti- 
vation, and the slaves sold off; the situation is 
fine, on an elevation two miles from the sea ; here 
as is often the case, the children of the domestic 
apprentices walked about the house and parlour 
as if it were their own, and stared knowingly at 
us. One seemed rather ahead of his playmates : 
we learnt he was an incorrigible runaway, and 



198 LETTERS FROM 

was very lately released from the house of cor 
rection, having been sent there to reform him. 
He had been found in a trash house, burrowed 
deep in the magass, with a hoard of sugar cane 
stored up as a provident supply, similar to a 
squirrel or marmot. The ingress and egress of 
domestics in and out of the houses savors too much 
of republican freedom for an Englishman. Their 
office is to fetch and carry if anything is wanted ; 
for this purpose no name is called, but " some- 
body/' " somebody," must do so and so ; this 
somebody may be man, woman, or child ; and as 
what is every one's office is no one's, it required 
many repetitions of the word "somebody," to 
fetch one real body. After breakfast we walked 
over the grounds 5 there was no appearance of 
cane fields, brushwood having grown up ; and yet 
a tumbling down crushing mill, which had been 
worked by water, and a boiling house, were evi- 
dences of former prosperity. The plantain ground 
was in the greatest vigour, and beneath such a 
" thyrsus of leaves" I never walked. The leaves 
are nearly as large of those of the cocos micifera ; 
undivided and of a green hue, as smooth as velvet- 
Many of these palms had their huge single bunch 
of plantains, counting several dozens hanging from 
a single stalk ; their size is that of small girkins. 
I did not see in Demerara so flourishing a plantain 
walk, in which colony great anxiety is felt, lest 
this most useful tree should become extinct. Of 
late years a cankerous disease has attacked it, and 



THE WEST INDIES. 199 

caused much devastation; a premium has been 
offered for a remedy. The banana tree is of the 
same genus, but its fruit is considered coarser. 

We afterwards walked to a neighbouring estate, 
the Grange, in Portland, also out of cultivation ; 
the negros are still attached, consequently they 
form a jobbing gang, and their services are hired 
out. In going through the wood, one of the large 
yellow harmless snakes was coiled round the top 
of a sappling, just strong enough to bear it ; it 
made no attempt to get away, and when assaulted 
only hissed defiance ; as flight was its only chance 
of safety, and as it disdained to make use of those 
means, with which nature had supplied it, I took 
possession of it, for a specimen, on the ground of 
laying claim to all snakes which will not get out 
of the way : a small black snake is much more 
frequently seen, than these larger ones ; the yel- 
low snake is said to be good eating ; in appearance 
its flesh is as white as that of a chicken. On 
reaching the Grange, we went to the negro vil- 
lage, and inspected several of the huts, which are 
tumbling down ; nevertheless, each contains two 
or three families, with a mere pretence of fur- 
niture about them ; these poor apprentices have 
had no clothing for two years, and are in such 
desolation, language cannot describe their desti- 
tution : the labour of these poor wretches, was 
lately sold for six hundred pounds, to 1840; 
they are now working at William's Field, near 
to Manchineal. We sat sometime in the great 



200 LETTERS FROM 

house, and conversed with the proprietor, or 
manager, I forget which : several young ladies 
grown up, made their appearance ; I could not 
but reflect if they had been educated in England, 
with what sympathy they would have regarded 
such extreme wretchedness, existing within one 
hundred yards of their own residence. 

On the 18th. early, we left Manchineal ; J. K. 
met us on the road, and kindly accompanied us to 
Amity Hall, in the Plantain Garden River district, 
the Eden of Jamaica. Amity Hall is remarkable 
for having a married resident manager, a Mr. 
Kirkland, who is also joint attorney; this is 
owing to the proprietor, though an absentee, being 
a religious character. We staid dinner as well as 
breakfast, were most hospitably entertained, and 
we quite enjoyed being in an accomplished family 
circle : this estate is said to return nine thousand 
pounds per annum, so it does not suffer for having 
an accomplished lady at the head of the domestic 
department ; the general plan is, if a manager 
marries to dismiss him the estate. The cane mill 
here was worked by a water wheel, the first I had 
seen : the distillery was very complete. Still 
houses occupy as much room as the boiling and 
curing houses together, from the necessity of 
having so many fermenting vats ; these are very 
large wooden tanks, arranged side by side, in 
which the liquor undergoes fermentation, to pre- 
pare it for the still, and each must contain as much 
as the largest still, from ten to twelve hundred 



THE WEST INDIES. 201 

gallons : the component parts of the liquor are 
the scummings of the hot cane juice, lees or 
feculencies from former distillations, which act 
the part of yeast, a small proportion of molasses, 
and water : the colour is added to the rum after- 
wards, the spirit coming over colourless, as all 
spirits do. Yet so accustomed was my mind to 
associate straw colour with rum, that when my 
vision pointed out the limpid crystal fluid, as the 
article, I was partially disposed to doubt the fact : 
such a sight as an extensive still-house, is enough 
to make a tee-totaller despair; he might well pine, 
to consider that every acre of good cane, produc- 
ing three hogsheads of sugar, produces two 
hundred gallons of rum ; yet temperance may 
exist, in the very focus of distillation ; the black 
distiller had not tasted spirits for years ; and it 
is remarkable, that with rum always, as it were, 
before them, negros should be very seldom seen 
under its influence; in fact, a tipsy black is a 
" vara avis," and they are never seen to "run a 
muck." 

The "great house" is at a little distance on rising 
ground, commanding a coup d'ceil of the whole 
plain; hundreds and thousands of acres of canes 
may be seen at one glance. A school house has been 
erected near, and a pleasing young man sent out 
by the Church Missionary Society has charge of 
it. We were pleased with the good order of the 
children ] many were absent ; at present the 
measles prevail, which maybe one cause. During 

D D 



202 LETTERS FROM 

the day we visited a very celebrated estate, Golden 
Grove ; attorney, Thomas M'cCornock, Esq., 
custos of the parish, answering to our Lord Lieu- 
tenant. The extent of this estate is two thou- 
sand acres ; apprentices five hundred ; and it ex- 
ports near six hundred hogheads of sugar : ie com- 
munibus annis." All the arrangements, buildings, 
machineiy, et cet., are of a very superior des- 
cription. A very neat Chapel, with a tower and 
clock close to the principal dwelling, was built by 
the tradesmen of the estate during the slave re- 
gime ; and such was the interest evinced by the 
slaves for religion, that they subscribed twenty 
pounds to buy a communion service cup ; it has 
been appropriately engraved; much might be said 
on this occurrence. The hospital is also a hand- 
some building, with separate apartments; as in 
others, there were here many inmates laid up by 
measles. 

There was such an air of prosperity and 
taste about Golden Grove, that I expected if the 
apprenticeship was working well any where, this 
was the place ; dissatisfaction however existed on 
both sides, and I am sure the negros had cause. 
They were short of provisions ; whereas T. M'cCor- 
nock said that during slavery they sent abundance 
to market. It is surprising to me they have any 
supply at all : their provision grounds are miles 
away in the mountains ; the watchmen are re- 
moved ; and as they are not fenced off, they are 
exposed to the trampling of cattle, and to thieves. 



THE WEST INDIES. 203 

Whilst we were standing near the mill, an appren- 
tice brought in a bundle of dead rats. These 
vermine are remarkably destructive to the canes, 
and are so numerous in the Plantain Garden 
River district, that rat-catching is a necessary 
occupation for an apprentice ; and he is expected 
to destroy a large number every week. There are 
also alligators in some of the water courses. In 
the evening, our road to Bath lay through the 
length of this fertile garden. As we approached 
this picturesque village, we left the canes behind, 
for pasture fields, which in general are of Guinea 
grass : this valuable herbage was introduced acci- 
dentally by some seeds being thrown away, which 
a captain of a vessel had brought over from Africa 
to feed some birds with. The birds having died, 
those seeds, instead of sustaining the feathered 
tribe, have become the means of a valuable suste- 
nance for cattle, which are very fond of the grass; 
and it is as plentiful as sweet, growing very luxu- 
riantly. 

We spent a quiet pleasant evening at Bath ; 
feasted on the "mountain crab/' and endea- 
voured to do so on the "jack fruit." The land or 
" mountain crab" is considered a great delicacy^ 
and over some other delicacies it has one advan- 
tage, that of not being scarce : it has a migratory 
amphibious nature, crawling down to the sea once 
a year, and there abiding during the spawning sea- 
son : they return weak and exhausted, to their 
burrows in the woods, where they recover their 



204 



LETTERS FROM 



condition, after casting their shell, and are then 
in season ; they are taken in the night, when they 
feed | and a negro frequently has this specific 
employment, furnishing so many per week. 
Montgomery Martin says, "those that feed 
in grave yards are the fattest, and richest in 
flavour," and that in Jamaica, " people talk of 
being food for crabs, as we do in England of 
being food for worms." The "jack fruit" is as 
large as a pumpkin, growing on a tree the size 
of a horse chesnut, though not so spreading; 
but a taste for the pulp has to be acquired ; if 
the smell was agreeable, this would be easier; 
but Pomona, in one of her vagaries, having made 
this forbidding, she must not be surprised if 
the other is disapproved. The bread fruit tree, 
brought by Captain Bligh, from Otaheite, is 
about the size of the one last mentioned, and 
ornamental ; as regards its fruit, I know but 
little ; it was not in perfection at the time of our 
visit, and little was said in its favour; where 
there are so many fruits, and a succession of them 
always tempting the palate, with only the trouble 
of gathering, it may be that an insipid one is 
only held in secondary estimation. The papaw 
I have mentioned before ; Dr. Madden alludes 
to a circumstance respecting it, of which I heard 
mention several times, but had no opportunity 
of testing the fact; that "the milky juice which 
exudes from the tree, (on excision,) is thought 
to possess the property of rendering the toughest 



THE WEST INDIES. 205 

meat tender when dressed over with it;" he then 
adds, " Humboldt says, in comparing the milky 
juices of the papaw, the cow tree, and the hevea, 
(from which the Indian rubber is procured,) "there 
appears to be a striking analogy between the juices 
which abound in caseous matter, and those in 
which caoutchouc prevails, and the ultimate prin- 
ciple of cheese is caoutchouc \*J " no wonder/' 
says the Doctor, " that cheese should be indiges- 
tible., if one cannot eat Stilton, without swal- 
lowing Indian rubber." 

On the 19th we rose early, and road over the 
Coonah Coonahs to Alta Monte and Moore Town, 
the former a Scotch, the latter a Maroon settle- 
ment.* This is a magnificent ride for scenery, over 
a mountain mule-path ; the ascent to the gap is six 
miles, descent five, and the distance through the 
valley of the Rio Grande to Moore Town, four 
miles ; the path is through an unbroken forest. 
These mountains are three thousand feet above 
the sea, and their tops are as verdant as their 
bases. " It is not only the giants of the forest 
that are to be found there ; the graceful rivals of 
the inmates of our conservatories are to be seen 
in all the native bloom of the wild beauty that de- 
lights in liberty." It is North Wales clothed with 
the trees of Worcestershire ; unbroken forests, fes- 
toons of creepers, parasitical plants, tree ferns of 

* The Maroons were originally slaves, who rebelled, and 
obtained their liberty, and have resisted any attempt to 
reduce them again to bondage. 



206 LETTERS FROM 

elegant aspect, lofty bamboos with their spiral 
waving summits, are on every hand. It is a ride of 
four hours through unnumbered exotics, shaded 
from the sun, in an enjoyable temperature ; the 
tree ferns and bamboo clumps were ever varied, 
ever new. Dr. Madden observes — " for pic- 
turesque beauty, the clumps of the bamboo, 
which line some of the mountain roads, exceed, in 
the depth of shade and gracefulness of umbrage, 
all other descriptions of natural arbour &." These 
simple reeds however make more noise than 
all the trees of the forest; the zephyrs playing 
amongst their feathery heights agitate the canes, 
which being in contact rub against each other : 
this grating is not unlike the labouring sound of 
heavy machinery. It is listened to with attention 
amidst the stillness of solitude's own domain ; in 
these forest wilds silence is intense, and it is made 
more evident by an occasional plaintive note of 
some concealed bird, or by the clattering of the 
canes : this last was very pleasant, giving rise to 
much imagery in my mind, as the sounds increased 
and died away. We had pleasure in visiting Alta 
Monte ; it is a very recent Scotch settlement, 
under the superintendence of A. G. Johnston. 
Each family has a cottage, and a grant of twenty 
acres, on which they are expected to build them- 
selves a house, and then resign their first cottage 
to some other new comer. The first six families 
are already located ; their gardens are enclosed ; 
each has a cow. They have nearly completed a 



THE WEST INDIES. 207 

new road, on the way to Moore Town, through the 
valley. The climate is pleasant, and as yet every- 
thing smiles. The men are in high spirits ; the 
women are less so, their little wants being at 
present indifferently supplied. There are other 
settlements of this kind on the island; they are 
much encouraged by the House of Assembly ; 
each settlement has a grant of three thousand 
pounds, sterling, with which to begin operations. 
The plan is to introduce the industrious habits of 
the Scotch amongst the negros ; and this settle- 
ment on the confines of Moore Town, may have 
good results, as this seems a rational method of 
developing the resourses of Jamaica : " video me- 
liora, proboque." A. G. Johnston is a scien- 
tific man, he regards the cottagers as his children, 
feeling a parent's interest towards them. His in- 
tended residence was building on a height, over- 
looking the vale : a Maroon was the builder, and 
young Maroon women were the serving masons, 
carrying the lime and sand up the hill on their 
heads : they are a fine intelligent looking people, 
having escaped from the debasement of slavery 
which greatly disfigures the "human form di- 
vine." The Maroons are a proof that slavery 
has this effect, for they are noble in mien. H. 
Martineau observes — "It is usual to call the 
most depressed slaves brutish in appearance; in 
some sense they are so ; but I never saw in any 
brute an expression of countenance so low, so lost, 
as in the most degraded class of negros. There 



208 LETTERS FROM 

is some life and intelligence in the countenance of 
every mind, even in that of the silly sheep." 
What a heavy responsibility rests upon those who 
have thus been reducing man below the " silly 
sheep !" and yet how unwilling is he to make 
amends for the evil done. 

"Man will not follow when a rule is shown, 
But loves to take a method of his own ; 
Explain the way with all your care and skill, 
This will he quit, if but to prove he will." 

We rode over to Moore Town ; two miles, a 
singularly beautiful village, by the banks of the 
Rio Grande, not an unsightly rocky bed, but a 
plentiful stream ; here was the site for nature's 
grand display of luxuriant fancies: slender withes 
were running up stately trees, and, as it were, 
mocking their supporting friends, by the most ex- 
traordinary display of seed pods, several feet in 
length, and filled with seeds, two inches broad, 
some of which are in my possession. The Maroon 
village is picturesque ; the cottages are scattered 
singly on several eminences, surrounded by nobler 
mountains; it numbers six hundred inhabitants, 
and they are very anxious for the maintenance of 
proper and appointed religious observances : at 
the time of our visit, these were unfortunately 
suspended, from some jealousies between the 
Bishop and the Church Missionary Society, which 
had stationed a Minister here. The Maroons 
have the presence of a government superintendent, 



THE WEST INDIES. 209 

(at present Captain Wright) who decides their 
differences by court martial ; they pay no taxes, 
and have their own form of government, or rather 
need no government. It has been the policy of 
the Jamaica legislature to prevent intimacy be- 
tween the Maroons and negros ; to effect this, 
the Maroons are rewarded with so many dollars 
for each deserting negro they will deliver up ; and 
so debasing is an unholy love of gain, the Maroons 
are said first to entice them away from the estates, 
and then surrender them for the bribe. We 
called on Captain Wright, he was from home ; 
but his lady, with the utmost refinement, wel- 
comed us into an apartment, recherche with shells 
and curiosities ; no grisly warder looked frown- 
ing from a castellated buttress, suspicious of 
every one's approach, and treating friends the 
same as enemies ; no, Captain Wright's house 
has a portal of confidence, supported by wings of 
friendship. 

" Nor doth its entrance front in vain, 
To ©Id Iona's holy fane." 

Safety is its outward enclosure, that outward en- 
closure is the " wild Maroon." Captain Wright 
has held his present office six years, a proof that 
his situation is not unpleasant. 

At the following break of day we were off, 
over the Coonah Coonahs. 

E E 



210 LETTERS FROM 

" As the calm morn, in the cerulean East, 
With cheek of rose, and golden sandall'd foot, 
Left her divine pavilion, to salute 
With smiles, the world. 

Long do the novel features of this extraordi- 
nary ride, deserve to be dwelt on; I could not 
sufficiently admire the spiral path, winding for 
miles amongst the unmolested monarchs of the 
hills, like an inexplicable labyrinth ; occasionally 
allowing a peep into the vista, and disclosing won- 
ders and beauties, as yet little known to the world ; 
till at last reaching the gap, it descends in a 
similar manner into the vale beneath. The mind 
seems inclined to send forth a pressing invitation 
to the lovers of Dovedale, and to the explorers of 
Matlock, come hither and see; — or in the words of 
Waterton — " Kind and gentle reader, if the few 
remarks in these wanderings shall have any weight 
in inviting thee to sally forth, and explore these 
vast and well-stored regions, I have gained my 
end/' To avoid for a few days noticing any com- 
moner track, suffice it to say, we again reached 
Kingston on the date of this letter. 

30th. During the past week we have spent a 
day at Spanish Town, on a visit to J. M. 
Philippo, the Baptist Missionary. His large and 
handsome Chapel is on one side of his dwelling, 
and as imposing in appearance as any one in 
Birmingham. On the other side, is the Metro- 
politan School for boys and girls, well arranged 
under one roof, having a gateway to divide the 



THE WEST INDIES. 211 

apartments, which is an advantage, the noise of 
one school not interrupting the other. Each 
school has one hundred and forty children on the 
list, and one hundred in pretty regular attendance. 
Their clothing is simple, but their general appear- 
ance equal, if not superior, to charity scholars in 
England. The mistress of the girls' school ap- 
peared to me a clever matron, but a defective 
teacher, on account of her deafness. The moni- 
tors were not kept up to their duty ; one large 
class read pretty well, but mumbled and muttered 
as negro children are apt to do ; their needle work 
deserved all commendation. There are not many 
Missionary stations in the world which can sur- 
pass J. M. Phiuppo's in general appearance : 
having his neat residence centered between a very 
handsome meeting house and substantial school 
rooms. At this Chapel he preaches twice in the 
Sabbath, and once during the week; close em- 
ployment in this climate. But is this all ? by no 
means. He has two other stations: one at Sligo 
Ville, nine miles distant, the other near Fort Au- 
gusta, about eight miles. We attended the week 
day evening service. Behind the pulpit is a 
circular gallery, where the scholars sit ; it is 
appropriate that they should elevate their innocent 
voices in heavenly hymns, near to their minister. 
Schools and Chapels engross all the energies of 
these devoted Missionaries : when Jamaica rises 
in the scale of Nations, they must have the credit, 
for they are the willing husbandmen. 



212 LETTERS FROM 

Spanish Town is unattractive ; and having said 
so, I have few comments to add. The Government 
square, containing the House of Assembly, and the 
Governor's residence, are creditable ; but the 
Baptist Missionary station is that which is worth 
seeing. The situation of the town is very indif- 
ferent 3 perhaps the Spaniards built it to be more 
out of sight of the Indians, or for the benefit of 
good water : it is on a plain, without any sea 
view, but watered by the Rio Cobre. Such 
a capital scarcely deserves a good road, and the 
House of Assembly have provided a bad one. The 
distance to Kingston is only thirteen miles ; the 
road is nearly level, and consequently it ought to 
be faultless, whereas it is very indifferent. If each 
member of the House of Assembly had but one 
rheumatic joint, to be tortured by the deep holes, 
causing jolts innumerable, as they are full of dust, 
and therefore cannot be avoided, it might lead 
to a remedy; this however is not the land of 
" rheum or podagrum." Some time since there 
was a daily coach to Kingston ; but after repeated 
efforts it was given up, being daily set fast, from 
the uneavenness of the road, and the debility of the 
horses, and the passengers having to abandon it 
at times mid-way. We understand, since we 
landed at Jamaica, there has been a slight earth- 
quake, sufficient to awaken the people of Spanish 
Town ; the Kingstonites slept through it ; so that 
it was not very alarming. The Governor, Sir 
Lionel Smith, is at present absent on a tour 



THE WEST INDIES. 



213 



round the island. He did an act of kindness at 
Savannah-la Mar, having liberated a woman from 
gaol, a victim of oppression. This mal-treated 
apprentice purchased her freedom some months 
ago ; the valuation was paid into the magistrate's 
hands ; but her owner complaining of the amount, 
the stype would not give her the ticket of freedom. 
She left, and was apprehended as a runaway, and 
committed to gaol, where, as I understood, she 
was confined with her fifteenth child. In this 
case a Special Magistrate received the price of 
freedom, and then refused a ticket, though he re- 
tained the money 3 an oppressor receiving four 
hundred and fifty pounds per annum, public 
money, and having sworn faithfully to administer 
the Abolition Act ! this was too gross for Sir 
Lionel Smith to coincide with. I have also seen a 
letter from R. Chamberlaine, of Manchineal; he 
expresses himself as considering his life in immi- 
nent danger, the planters having become highly 
incensed against him ; he is the first conscientious 
magistrate that has presided there ; the previous 
one, Dawson, was their tool ; to inquire into 
whose conduct Lord Sligo appointed a commis- 
sion, his mal-administration having been carried 
on with the utmost boldness. Sir Lionel Smith, 
on assuming the Government, quashed the commis- 
sion, only removing Dawson to another part of the 
island. Sir Lionel Smith has a larger income 
than any previous Governor, from his determina- 
tion of holding, "eodem tempore," the office of 



214 LETTERS FROM 

Commander-in-Chief, which has hitherto been dis- 
tinct ; as he is of a parsimonious disposition, he is 
supposed to be laying by eight thousand pounds per 
annum. 

By the last packet I have received a very ac- 
ceptable letter from my mother ', her previous one, 
and Sampson's, have missed their aim. I imagine 
a surgeon in the army of my name, stationed at 
St. Lucia, has had the benefit of them, which is my 
great loss. I have no doubt the letters will be pro- 
fitable to every one perusing them, yet it is un- 
pleasant to write for unknown individuals. I am 
glad mine as yet have escaped similar mishaps, and 
hoping this may also, 

I remain, &c. 



THE WEST INDIES. 215 



LETTER XIV. 

Kingston, 5th. Month, 1th., 1837. 
My Dear F r. 

We had a pleasant excursion last week, 
passing through St. David's into St. George's in 
the East. Saints are very numerous in Jamaica, 
and some of them very tall, (St. Catherine is 
five thousand feet high.) Our object was to 
visit Captain Kent, a Special Magistrate, who re- 
sides amongst the Port Royal mountains : S. 
Bourne kindly accompanied us. We left Grecia 
Regale in the afternoon, and turning our backs 
on St. Andrews, we commenced a zigzag moun- 
tain ascent of eight miles, which brought us to 
Guava Gap, and there we entered St. David's : 
these spiral roads, or king's paths, were made 
by the different parishes, and are remarkably 
good ; they form one of Jamaica's prominent 
features : a descent of five miles brought us to 
the Yallahs river ; one feature in the scene was 
stationary before us, the Blue Mountain Peak ; 
other parts were changing their positions and 
characters every few minutes, as we descended ; 
suffice it to say, it was Jamaica scenery, unrivalled 



216 LETTERS FROM 

for magnificence ; the above is the same stream 
which has the chain bridge over it, nearer the coast, 
it is the great outlet of the Port Royal moun- 
tains : these mountains have the same grand 
features as the Coonah Coonahs, with this dif- 
ference, the latter are clothed with their native 
evergreens, whilst the former are, in great part, 
denuded, having been cleared for coffee planta- 
tions, which are on all sides, with their mills and 
their barbecues ; hence the trees are too sparse 
to check the view ; the eye can range over the 
mountain heights, in all directions ; no clouds 
obstruct or strike chilliness; far otherwise, the 
higher we ascend the more comfortable we are, 
the more salubrious is the climate. After cross- 
ing Yallahs river, we ascended again to Captain 
Kent's residence, which is the " great house" of 
the Robertsfield estate, situated on a mountain 
side, over the margin of the river ; it is a large 
substantial house of hewn stone, and cost many 
thousand pounds building ; yet there is no en- 
closed garden, perhaps on the principle, that the 
whole island is one ; neither is there paddock or 
lawn ; but coffee trees, pimento, and withered 
grass ; coffee and pimento are not, however, all 
that a family require; they have, therefore, to send 
mules to Kingston near twenty miles, for their 
other supplies, which is one little drawback to a 
residence in the Port Royal Mountains, a second 
is having to carry all their water a quarter of a 
mile up the precipice, from the river. These 



THE WEST INDIES. 21/ 

residences and roads could not have been made 
in a thinly peopled country, unless by the coerced 
labour of slaves : every stone of this house had 
to be carried from the bed of the river, and the 
same may be said of others much higher than it. 
Captain Kent, with his accomplished lady and 
daughter, were truly hospitable ; he is an upright 
Special Magistrate, and by preserving his inde- 
pendence, in not tasting the sops of the planters, 
has been enabled to move on in an upright 
course ; he has suffered a little annoyance where 
he least expected it. On coming out from Eng- 
land, a relation by marriage, (Dr. S .) offered 

him the excellent residence of an estate, Chester 

Vale, rent free, of which Dr. S. was trustee; 

but on finding that Captain K. would not allow 
the apprentices to be imposed upon, he gave him 
an intimation to leave the house : Captain K. was 
desired to change the provision grounds of the 
whole gang ; that is, to make them break up fresh 
grounds at great labour, and at a most inconve- 
nient distance ; and also to make an old nurse, 
who during slavery, from her age and services, 
had ceased from field labour, again to resume it, 
and to walk several miles every day for that 
purpose, to another estate ; Captain Kent pre- 
ferred changing his residence to wounding his 
conscience; knowing that externals were of se- 
condary importance. 

"Without was Paradise, because within 
Was a keen relish, without taint of sin." 
F F 



218 LETTERS FROM 

Dr. S is said to have made a fortune by 

croaking : during the agitation of the emancipa- 
tion bill, he encouraged the belief that the colonies 
were ruined, that the compensation would never 
be paid ; during the panic of fear, he bought up 
slaves for a trifle ; the compensation money came, 
and it enriched him ; so that the twenty millions 
have been "ways and means" in many ways. 

During our visit Captain K. accompanied us to 
Clifton Mount Estate, situated at the foot of St. 
Catherine's Peak ; probably the highest coffee 
plantation in the island, being upwards of four 
thousand feet above the sea ; its coffee is cele- 
brated. From thence we went to Cold Spring, 
on the side of the Peak, through Content Gap : 
this was formerly the residence of the Wallens\ 
The house is in ruin ; but trees which they planted 
still remain, proving that the stone and mortar 
work of man cannot vie with the tenants of 
the hills. There we met with a darling English 
oak, disdaining to live with the exotics in the 
vale, still retaining its dignity, and aspiring to 
the loftiest pinnacle ; the Scotch fir was in full 
vigour, gorse luxuriant, strawberry plants around, 
and ripe blackberries, some of which we gathered ; 
amongst them grew the tea tree vigorously ; since 
here, as in the plain below, Phoebus 

" forbad the snow, 
From cold Estotiland : and south, as far 
Beneath Magellan." 



THE WEST INDIES. 219 

How noble was the prospect ! the sea in sight on 
both the northern and southern shores of the island; 
on one side was the Blue Mountain Peak, on the 
other Kingston, Port Royal, and Spanish Town. 
In England, at such an elevation, there would be 
a clear prospect once in a while, here daily ; ex- 
cept in the rainy season, the Blue Peak is quite 
sufficient to support the few fleecy clouds which 
require a resting place. 

It was delightful once more to feel European 
buoyancy, from a little nearer approach to the " cold 
north;" the thermometer, at the time of our visit to 
Clifton Mount, was 73° Fahrenheit; it is frequent- 
ly much lower in the day, and always in the night. 
After a short residence in a temperature of 85°, 
when the thermometer sinks to 75% with the sea 
breeze blowing, there is no oppression from heat. 
C. Chisholm, the intelligent attorney of Clifton 
Mount, paid us every attention, and pointed out 
to us many objects of interest; near the steps of 
his residence I observed some little blackies very 
busy ; on going up to them I found they were 
picking chigoes out of each other's feet ; this is 
an insect like a flea, but it can introduce its whole 
body beneath the skin, far easier than a flea can 
insert its piercer; it makes its domicile on the 
toes, burying itself beneath the skin, and there 
lays its eggs, which are enclosed in a covering ; 
these vermes on hatching, give the first notice of 
their presence, by a delightful itching. I have 
been told it was a proof of the true Creole dis- 



220 



LETTERS FROM 



position, for a lady to be partial to a chigoe in her 
foot, the itching forming a pleasing accompaniment 
to her languor; the nest, however, must not remain 
unextracted too long, or a troublesome sore will 
be the consequence. Negros are very skilful in 
extracting the chigoe bag unbroken, and there 
is in most families one domestic, to whom the 
office is entrusted. From experience I can say, 
I had rather have the itching of three chigoes, 
than the puncture of one pulex. On our return 
to Robertsfield, I reflected upon the duties of a 
magistrate in this Alpine district : imagine a 
stype perched upon the top of Snowdon, Ben 
Lomond, Ben Nevis, or Helvellyn; give him a 
dozen estates about the neighbouring mountains 
to visit, and fancy him scouring these hills in a 
hot sun, in pursuit of quarrels and bickerings ! 
if on Helvellyn, away he strides forth for Striden 
Edge, then scrambles up Catch e de Cam, as 
if his motto was, "catch who I can," and by the 
evening, he has become acquainted with com- 
plaints and dissatisfactions enough, to introduce 
his mind into a state of discomfort, destroying 
all that composure which nature's sublimity 
ought to inspire. 

Though the king's roads from one parish to 
another are very good, the private roads from one 
estate to another are very indifferent, of which 
this day's experience convinced me. Our road 
was at times up the bed of the river Yallahs ; then 
climbing banks amongst bushes ; then down into 



THE WEST INDIES. 221 

the water again. In such a neighbourhood it is 
very pleasant for once to say I have been such and 
such an excursion, but far otherwise to say, I go 
weekly. The Special Magistrates in Jamaica have 
been more than decimated, twenty-six are said to 
have died; one is known to have met his end raging 
mad ; the number stationed on the island is sixty. 
One gentleman was too cunning to be caught ; he 
would not engage himself to the office, till he had 
seen the nature of it ; he came out and visited a 
Special Magistrate a friend of his, before settling 
down at the station he had in prospect ; he accom- 
panied his friend a few rides, and quickly made up 
his mind to return, saying, I shall have spent one 
hundred pounds by the time I reach England, but 
I had rather do so, than ride amongst blue moun- 
tains in danger of the i( blues," at the risk of my 
neck, and hunting after contention. Dr. Madden 
observes — " The Special Magistrates had some of 
them thirty miles of country to be scoured in 
every direction, in daily pursuit of litigation." 
It has not been possible for a Special Magistrate 
to go through his engagements with a due regard 
to his health and personal comfort, without being 
on good terms with the planters. The magistrate 
has to visit every estate under his jurisdiction, 
within stated periods, I believe every fortnight. 
If he is regarded as a friend to the properties, on 
leaving home, he breakfasts at one, dines at a se- 
cond, and sleeps at a third; and in this way goes his 
round, and on returning can rest during the inter- 



222 LETTERS FROM 

vening time ; whereas, if managers close their 
hospitalities against him, he must ride out, and 
return home each evening, to the imminent risk 
of his health, from constant fatigue ; hence, from 
the necessities of the case, the kindnesses of 
planters towards the Special Magistrates, have 
been too much like placing bits in their mouths, 
to lead them wherever they chose ; and they who 
have partaken of the sops and baits held out to 
tempt them, have quickly lost that independence, 
without which it is impossible to perform the 
duties of the office uprightly ; their salaries have 
been advanced from three hundred to four hundred 
and fifty pounds sterling per annum, yet this is 
found barely sufficient where an individual has to 
keep two horses, as many do. We felt quite in- 
debted to Captain Kent and his lady for the infor- 
mation and kindness received at their hands. On 
leaving, the following acrostic crossed my imagi- 
nation : — 

Robertsfield, O ! do not think 

Of English fields where dew drops blink ; 

Blue and royal mountains here, 

Every form, and size appear ; 

Ragged rocks, and rugged ways ; 

Travellers with fearful gaze, 

See the winding puzzling maze. 

Fruitful nature here unfolds, 
In her hand her treasure holds ; 
Evergreens of beauteous form, 
Lift their waving plumes to morn, 
Defying hurricanes and storm. 






THE WEST INDIES. 223 

On our return to Grecia Regale we met with 
Horace Kimball, who was paying a visit there. 
He was one of the American Anti- Slavery So- 
ciety's agents, sent out to investigate the working 
of the Apprenticeship in the West Indies. We 
had met him and his companion, J. A. Thome, 
previously in Kingston. H. K. told us his 
American independence had been set at nought 
the previous morning. Walking in the road, 
he was at once accosted, and informed he must 
serve on a jury, then about to sit on a negro 
woman found dead some distance off. He was a 
foreigner, in delicate health, and had not break- 
fasted ; no excuse would serve; the law was, that 
the jury should be formed of any twelve men that 
could be found, and his services they must have. 
Nine of the jury were overseers. After walking 
near a mile, they saw the body lying in the road : 
it was that of a woman, who had left the Half- 
Way-Tree house of correction the day before, 
and had died before she could reach home : she 
had been committed as a runaway, for fourteen 
days, during which time she danced the tread 
wheel. The Magistrate who committed her, is 
a humane man, and thought she was hardly fit 
for the tread mill ; the doctor of the estate as- 
sured him she was ; the woman is said to have 
complained to her acquaintances of harsh treat- 
ment, and to have said, " if she ever lived to 
reach home, she would persuade her massa's 
negros never to go to Half- Way-Tree, as it would 



224 LETTERS FROM 

kill them." The jury decided that she came to 
her death, from some cause unknown, and with- 
out any inquiry, as to her treatment in the work- 
house ; I have seen a Magistrate since, who 
happened to visit the workhouse before she left, 
and he noticed one of the women on the wheel 
was dreadfully exhausted ; I doubt not, it was 
the same individual.* 

The hill sides for the last week have been 
extremely gay, with the large American aloe, 
(agave Americana,) which is now in blossom ; 
they are very numerous, and a most noble orna- 
ment for these noble hills ; the flowering stem runs 
fifteen or twenty feet, towards the top of which 
are its large bright yellow flowers in beautiful 
clusters ; I have looked again and again, to see if 
I could trace any semblance betwixt them, and 
our sickly exotics. " Sight, " they say, " is a 
lively infective sense, and carrieth many persua- 
sions to the heart, which ruleth all the rest;" 
mine has convinced me, that an English green 
house affords a very sickly existence for an (agave 
Americana.) In Jamaica the leaves, during the 
day, are too hot to bear the hand upon, and yet 
a strong breeze is blowing all around ; what 
conservatory can assimilate to this ? I am in- 

* H. Kimball died of consumption, (pthisis jmlmonalis,) 
a few months after his return to America. For Kimball and 
Thome's published account of this inquest, see page 422 of 
their Emancipation in the West Indies, which is a most 
interesting and valuable work. 



THE WEST INDIES. 225 

dined to think the next improvement for green 
houses, should be, to introduce the trade wind. 

There is not a great variety of humming birds 
in Jamaica ; they have interested me less than the 
mockingbird, {sylvia dominica ;) which though 
plain in plumage, has great skill in melody, and is 
valued as standing unrivalled in excellence. 

Sylvia the joyous mocking bird, 
Is the songster should be heard ; 
It sings with a delightful pipe, 
When canes and goodly fruits are ripe ; 
Varied and cheerful is its song, 
Low and rapid, loud and long ; 
Living amongst Jamaica's flowers. 
It sings alone amidst the bowers. 

Sligo Ville, 10th. 
Two days ago we came over to Spanish Town, 
intending to go together to Jericho, on a visit to 
the Baptist minister, J. Clarke ; feeling very 
feverish, I concluded to let T. H. go forward 
alone,* and to rest quietly one day. J. M. 
Philippo then accompanied me to this Mountain 
Mission Station, established by him a few years 
since, to instruct the benighted ; and besides the 
pleasure of doing good, he has the benefit of a 
change of air ; for at this elevation, between two 

* This little indisposition terminated with an attack of 
" prickly heat," which affected the skin like scarlet fever ; this 
complaint which is said to attack " new comers," was my last 
tropical annoyance. 
G G 



226 LETTKRS FROM 

and three thousand feet above the sea, the climate 
is delightful ; his garden produces carrots, peas, 
and potatoes. I enjoy the change, for Kingston 
and Spanish Town are much too hot for my 
comfort. The road partakes of those characters 
and features previously described, as common to 
Jamaica mountain paths ; the distance may be eight 
miles, and we brought the gig half way, completing 
the rest on horseback ; wild, luxuriant, and varied 
were the views : here and there a patch was burnt 
for a provision ground. In this way the appren- 
tices in mountainous districts maintain them- 
selves ; they burn and clear a plot of ground, and 
then plant their yams. The soil in the vale near 
Spanish Town, and up part of the ascent, was 
remarkably red, (subpinguis crocea ;) it is fertile 
and very favourable for the growth of oranges. 
Not having said as much before, I will just say 
now that Jamaica is one hundred and fifty miles 
long, by forty broad. I have not obtained the 
exact population ; the following is an approach to 
the truth : — apprentices, three hundred thousand ; 
free-coloured, ten thousand ; Maroons, two thou- 
sand ; whites, including the army, thirty-five 
thousand. Spanish Town or St. Jago-de-la-Vega, 
is very much smaller than Kingston, not num- 
bering ten thousand inhabitants. The Govern- 
ment is composed of the Governor, who at present 
is Lord Chancellor and Commander in-Chief; the 
Legislative Council consisting of twelve ; and the 
House of Assembly of forty-three Members. At 






THE WEST INDIES. 22J 

Spanish Town we again enjoyed the company of 
R. Hill, a Special Magistrate, and Secretary for 
that department. He thinks the only chance for 
the apprenticeship to have worked at all comfort- 
ably, would have been by combining three other 
provisions. First. That no courts should be held 
at planters' houses. Secondly. That apprentices 
cruelly used, should be entitled to their freedom. 
Thirdly. That planters should have no controul 
over nursing mothers, and those about to nurse ; 
and that a proper provision should be made for 
the free children ; at present they depend upon 
their mothers for a living, whose time is claimed 
by the planters. 

The apprenticeship system, as now worked, is a 
wicked one : exempli. — J. M. Philippo knew an 
individual attending his congregation who wished 
to be baptized, and become a member ; ere the 
proper time arrived she died. On inquiry he 
found she was taken ill ; the overseer said it was 
sham, and ordered her to the field ; feeling herself 
unable, she came into town for medicine ; a 
doctor gave her a certificate, certifying her inca- 
pability. Her master on reading it, came into 
town, abused the medical man ; said he would 
make the woman work; vain boast! death claimed 
her. The poor woman has been buried three weeks. 
Recently a man complained of illness ; he was not 
allowed to rest, but ordered a quart of salt water 
with jalape ; he said he was too ill to take it ; he 
was not allowed any thing else, and shortly died. 



228 LETTERS FROM 

A woman very lately, with an infant, called upon 
a magistrate in Spanish Town, saying she was 
turned out of her master's town house, and 
ordered to his estate in the country. The child 
was so ill she thought it would die on the way, so 
came to the magistrate for advice, who kindly 
sheltered her two days, when the infant died. He 
was threatened with prosecution for harbouring a 
runaway. This distressed mother was the mis- 
tress of that master who ordered her out. Evil is 
so rife here, that little brightness is to be seen, 
save amongst the Missionaries and their coad- 
jutors. At Sligo Ville, where I now write, are 
three orphans, housed and sheltered by J. M. 
Philippo, who feelingly knows " mens descendo 
alitur ;" he has therefore taken these three neg- 
lected children: "in loco parentis, ad monendum 
et docendum :" they are grandchildren of Lord 
Ken yon, who sent out a natural son to be an 
overseer; and he having died, these his children are 
destitute. Morality cannot advance fast, till con- 
scientious governors are sent out, who, by ex- 
ample, shall endeavour to stem the torrent of vice. 
Adjoining Sligo Ville is a small pimento planta- 
tion. The apprentices are all of one family, con- 
sisting of seven brothers, sister, and mother; we 
walked to them at work in the field. Their master 
has made one of the brothers driver of the rest. 
In conversation he acknowledged he was forced to 
Cat his mother and sister, when they would not 
work, during the days of slavery ; but now said 



THE WEST INDIES. 229 

he, they d'ont mind me, for my power is trans- 
ferred to the Special Magistrate. Yes, thought I, 
the loss of a great evil has brought the gain of 
real good ; for doubtless they love thee more. 

Sir Lionel Smith's motto is "conciliation, 
conciliation, conciliation/' which treplet he is very 
partial to; but unfortunately it is a one sided treplet. 
Lord Sligo's character I much admire ; he treated 
the present governor with the greatest courtesy ; 
sent his carriage to meet him at Kingston, yet 
Sir Lionel Smith would not buy Lord Sligo's 
country house and furniture, for one thousand five 
hundred pounds, though the furniture alone cost 
many hundreds. Lord Sligo therefore sold it to 
a private individual, but pulled the telegraph 
down he had erected to communicate with 
Spanish Town and Port Royal. Sir L. Smith 
found however that his town house was too hot 
and confined for a continued residence, and now 
lives at Highgate, as ten ant- at-will, in the same 
house he might have purchased with the telegraph 
much beneath its value. The residence is not 
more than a quarter of a mile from this Mis- 
sionary Station, which J. M. Philippo called 
Sligo Ville, in compliment to Lord Sligo. On 
becoming acquainted with the state of things here, 
I more and more regret Lord Sligo's leaving ; he 
is one of "nature's noblemen." J. M. P. before 
his departure asked him his opinion as to slavery ; 
he replied, " my hand has signed years back many 
a document to uphold the old system ; but I had 



230 LETTERS FROM 

rather my hand had withered than I had done so ; 
and if I was only now supported at home, I would 
go hand in hand with the Anti -Slavery Society." 
Having these views he wrote to Lord Glenelg, 
saying, if he was not supported he must resign ; 
this was construed into a resignation, and ac- 
cepted as such. 

Sligo Ville is an interesting station ; a day 
and evening school have been established, the 
latter for the apprentices ; they come willingly 
six miles after their day's work, stay till nine 
o'clock, then walk home to be ready for the field, 
by six a. m. ; few things yield a speedier return 
than instruction. Negros spare no exertion when 
they meet with encouragement, either in the 
acquirement of learning, or for a maintenance; 
witness the extraordinary loads they carry on 
their heads to market, walking all night to the 
Saturday's market, sitting exposed to the sun 
through the day, and then returning home : a 
negro woman may be seen driving three laden 
mules, and carrying a heavy load herself; there 
is no begging by the road side ; they are like bees 
going and returning ; they may hail massa going 
by, with a "good mornin," but never ask for 
pity and condolence. I do not admire the negro's 
skin and countenance ; but I admire their charac- 
ter, it is full of noble traits ; such as gratitude, 
domestic and local attachments ; and they have, 
in a great degree, the virtue of cleanliness ; their 
huts are generally neat. I have never seen a 



THE WEST INDIES. 231 

congregation at worship, but I could, without 
discomfort, have sat anywhere, when in their 
Sunday apparel ; I cannot say this of England, 
Ireland, or Scotland ; yet the planters designate 
them all as rascals : a gentleman told me this 
day, that an acquaintance came to him, and said, 

" well Mr. R , you are going to lose your 

servant ; he is a rascal, like the rest of them, a'ynt 
he ?" " No/' replied R., " he is not a rascal, but 
an excellent domestic 3" " well then, do send 
him to me," said the other, u for I can't find one." 
R. replied," " he is not inclined for service, or he 
would not leave me ; but having married, he 
wishes to commence business, by opening a shop." 
Is it not surprising they should treat the whites 
with so much civility, when they are spoken of 
and treated in this way ? I firmly believe the 
efforts of the Missionaries, will develope the negro 
character : the reading and spelling, in this re- 
cently established school, would do credit to any 
country ; on hearing a young class sing, u per- 
pendicular is to stand upright," I was reminded 
of the little P— - — s ; the variety of tunes is amus- 
ing ; nearly all the instruction is conjoined with 
attempted harmony- J. M. Philippo has no 
funds for his recently established school, at Sligo 
Ville ; it affords instruction to the apprentices on 
the neighbouring estates, yet no planter gives a 
stiver towards its support ; but to put it down, 
would not hundreds soon be raised ? Education 
will turn the tables ; planters will find, that how- 



232 LETTERS FROM 

ever unwilling to respect the skin, they must, in 
spite of their prejudices, respect intelligence and 
uprightness. J. M. P. has an excellent plan to 
draw attention and raise funds, for his Spanish 
Town metropolitan schools. In the school room 
an annual bazaar is displayed ; the articles, as 
trinkets, books, et cet., are sent by the benevo- 
lent in England, and each stand has a large 
placard, showing from whence they came, as 
Peckham stand, Tottenham stand ; there has been 
great want of a Birmingham stand, as boys pre- 
fer knives and tools, to pincushions : I have been 
able, from articles I brought out, to furnish a 
supply for the first Birmingham stand ; and I 
hope, Birmingham will not be behind other places, 
but keep it up.* 

1 lth. Rain is always expected this month, and 
yesterday it fell gratefully ; the drought has been 
threatening, and the atmosphere has been heated ; 
the sun is vertical the 20th. of this month, so that 
a check to his influence, from clouds and rain, is 
very welcome ; this pure, cooler air invigorates 
me; my thermometer, this morning, was 72% 
in town it would have been 82°; and the appear- 
ance around has been novel and striking : the 
mountain heights were clear and distinct, even 
the Blue Mountain Peak ; but the valleys were 
all filled with a dense fog : ocean masses of 

* Since my return a subscription has been sot on foot. 
I shall be glad to receive donations for this object, or they 
may be handed to Joseph St urge. 



THE WEST INDIES. 233 

clouds, white as snow, and misty vapours, " o'er 
the Marish glided ;V the sun's rays, and the 
morning breeze, awakened up these drowsy mists ; 
standing high above, I watched the growing con- 
fusion ; islands and continents of vapour rolled 
away, as if conscious they had lain too long ; 
it looked solid enough to roll up, and make a 
ball of -j perhaps I acquired this idea from the in- 
elegant one of " slicing a London fog." The 
Chapel, at this station, is a very simple one, a 
large room attached to the dwelling : we attended 
family worship this morning ; the orphans, with 
some other scholars, sang a hymn, though a few 
months ago they were ignorant of their letters : the 
interest felt by the negros here, for religious 
communion, has aroused the zeal of a neighbour- 
ing Clergyman; he has been recently ordained. 
I think the Bishop would have withheld his sanc- 
tion, if he had known of his singular method for 
promoting religion ; he cannot be esteemed as an 
apostolic vicar ; he plays the violin on a Saturday 
evening, to induce the negros to come and dance 
through the night, that they may not disperse, 
but be assembled ready for his ministry on the 
Sabbath ; and he says he could not collect them 
otherwise. The methodists are promoting edu- 
cation nobly ; this week they lay the foundation 
stone of a new school, the first of nine, to be 
erected on the government plan ; a Minister is 
come out to superintend them ; he has visited 
the metropolitan school, without calling upon J. 

H H 



234 LETTERS PROM 

M. Philippo : religious distinctions should not 
destroy the courtesies of life. 

I cannot imagine how any mind can think, that 
when slavery has passed away, there will be an 
"hiatus valde deflendus ;" for my part I wish 
it may not be said, " stat umbra nominis." 
Slavery, in my opinion, destroys domestic com- 
fort; too many individuals are about the house, 
who must be provided for ; hence, domestics in 
the yards, and pickaninnies walking about the 
dwelling, interrupting privacy ; if any one is 
playing the piano forte, the black servant stands in 
the open door way, to listen to the music ; what 
occurs at a ball in Demerara, I have elsewhere 
noticed; these freedoms are indulgences; the per- 
secutions are tolerably well known ; and what is 
affecting, they teach how to persecute : negro 
mothers beat their little naked niggers fearfully ; 
a cow skin smacks on their backs, too much like 
a cart whip ; the cries are heart-rending ; this 
frequently occurs in Demerara and Barbadoes, 
the method of correcting negro children being by 
flagellation. 

The cheapest thing in the West Indies is 
warmth ; it is to be had for nothing, being 
dispensed freely every day ; not by man, he dis- 
penses ill-will, which bye the bye is also cheap. 
Needful articles are dear enough. Mutton is a 
shilling per pound ; beef tenpence. Where ex- 
penses are great the means must be proportionate. 
W , the young man who teaches the Baptist 



THE WEST INDIES. 235 

Queen-street Schools, and occasionally officiates 
at Port Royal, has a salary of two hundred 
pounds sterling, and says he could not live for 
less. A physician's fee is three pounds three 
shillings ; and a gentleman told me he had paid 
one hundred pounds per annum for medical at- 
tendance, and his family is small. In a fruitful 
field like Jamaica, these things ought not to be ; 
abundance of all things needful might be grown ; 
yet the colonies depend on America for sup- 
plies; yes, even to horse corn. Slavery has been 
a sort of idol, to which all whites are expected 
to bow in some way or other ; either in abuse of 
the negros, or in upholding the " peculiar institu- 
tions;" in thought, word, and deed; if not, he is 
an enemy to " ships, colonies, and commerce." 
There is great enslavement of the mind; the 
minister is afraid of losing his pulpit ; the doctor 
his patient ; the tradesman his customer ; and all 
stand in fear of the planters; which would be well, 
were they the patterns of right feeling and action. 
Slavery is a " canker worm;" apprenticeship is a 
"palmer worm;" and what the "canker worm has 
left, the palmer worm has eaten ;" in other words, 
if any system could more irritate man against 
man, and awaken deeper malice than slavery, that 
system is the apprenticeship. Before it, there was 
the benevolence of the despot ; but the power 
having been taking out of the planter's hands, 
irritation rankles in his mind, and it has rooted 
out what kindness had there a place. 



236 LETTERS FROM 

The climate is healthy for those who need not 
undergo great exertion, as shop and store keepers ; 
no shivering or cold feet need be dreaded, and 
from five to seven A. m. exposure in the open air 
is delightful. Fragrant breathings r accompany 
the wanderer ; beauty is before him, and spicy 
odours at his right hand ; in short to sum up, 
there are balmy mornings, scorching noons, placid 
evenings, star light nights^ skins of all colours, 
quadroon and mustee, cruelty in man, magnifi- 
cence in nature, with now and then a sharp hur- 
ricane, and shock of an earthquake. The negro is 
the man for the West Indies ; he alone can culti- 
vate the soil, and therefore ought to be protected. 
In Barbadoes, on visiting a cane field, I observed 
two young men, the proprietors, with very sin- 
gular faces ; on going up to them, I found they 
had masks on to protect them from the sun. They 
were sitting on horseback, each holding up an 
umbrella ; whilst the apprentices, heedless of the 
heat, were slashing the canes down. It will be 
long before the negros are able to secure their 
just and efficient rights, and I would urge the 
philanthropists of Britain not to relax their efforts, 
until individually they can say with Joseph 
Sturge, " quod potui, feci, faciant meliora po- 
tentes." Persevere then, let me entreat you, as 
if stimulated by the energetic advice of the poet : 

" Press on ! for in the grave there is no work, 
And no device ; press on ! while yet ye may." 






THE WEST INDIES. 237 

We intend to embark for New York on the 
14th, by the John White Cater packet. If our 
voyage is prosperous, I shall write from thence, 
and in the meantime, 

I remain, 

Thy very affectionate son, 

William Lloyd. 



238 LETTERS FROM 



LETTER XV. 

New York, 6th. Month, teh., 1837, 
My Dear M r. 

I seize the present favourable opportunity of 
answering thy last very acceptable letter, which 
happily came safe to hand. We debarked from 
Jamaica as we intended, on the 14th of this 
month, and landed here on the sixteenth day after- 
wards, which is considered a good passage. The 
distance is about one thousand four hundred miles. 
Our company was equal to the ship's accommo- 
dation, amongst whom were the American gentle- 
men, T. A. Thome, and J. H. Kimball, which 
made it agreeable ; a Jamaica coffee planter, 
J. F. Pickersgill, travelling for the benefit of 
very delicate health, who through an introduction 
placed himself under my care; and also a young 
man, a Canadian, Felix Hands. To check symp- 
toms of consumption, this young man had avoided 
a Canadian winter, and spent it in Jamaica. His 
general appearance did not indicate the ravages of 
a mortal disease ; but no sooner had we left the 
balmy tropics, than fatal symptoms began to 
show themselves. There were several other Ja- 



THE WEST INDIES. 239 

maica residents on board : one an attorney and 
planter : their gentlemanly behaviour prevented 
all possibility of clashing from different views. 
The circumstance of J. F. P., placing himself 
under my care, proved that no ill will was in 
operation against us. In my invalided friend, 
J. F. P, I became much interested; he was 
young, only two years married, recently em- 
barked in life, and in a precarious state of health. 
Since the commencement of the apprenticeship he 
had never brought any complaints before the 
Special Magistrate, and he had only one negro 
who had occasioned him any trouble. Need there 
be stronger evidence that the apprentices are trac- 
table when properly treated? No striking in- 
cident occurred during the voyage. The sailors 
caught a shark soon after leaving Kingston harbour, 
and we were exposed to a gale of short continu- 
ance ; it was in our favour, so we drove before it : it 
only occasioned us the slight inconvenience of the 
loss of a meal, and of our top gallant yard arm, 
which broke before the sails were reefed. 

We passed Sandy Hook on the evening of the 
30th, and cast anchor in the lower bay shortly 
afterwards. 

On the morrow, at day break, 
Aurora found us all awake ; 
St^atten Island was before, 
With neat white houses on the shore ; 
Whilst on our right Long Island lay, 
Green with verdure, fresh and gay. 



240 LETTERS FROM 

Bright indeed that eastern hue, 
Vapours from the gray morn flew ; 
For the sun had left his bed, 
Beams of splendour round to shed : 
Here was a goodly prospect, yes, 
One which the Mariner could bless ; 
It met us on a vernal day, } 

The thirtieth of our lovely May ; > 

When lavish nature seemed to say, j 
Welcome stranger, come and see 
Columbia ! land of mystery !* 

After breakfast we entered the Narrows, which 
divides the lower from the upper bay ; it is formed 
by the contiguity in that part of St/atten and 
Long Island ; this pass is strongly defended by 
batteries : having passed through, the upper mag- 
nificent Bay is seen in its wide expanse ; Long 
Island bounds it on the right ; St/ratten Island and 
New Jersey on the left ; and on sailing up, the 
delta of Manhatten Island, on which new York 
stands, opens out. There are several islands in the 
Bay, named Blackwells, Bedloes, and Governors; 
the latter most arrests the stranger's attention : it 
is very near the city, and has a circular battery 
upon it. The city, with its forests of masts, was 
very imposing in its outline, as we approached : 
the ships, extending up both the north and 
east river, enclose the city, and seem like its 
defensive armour; but long may it be, before 

* The union of the most degrading slavery, with their 
boasted republicanism, is mysterious. 



THE WEST INDIES. 241 

these noble vessels, leave on any other errand 
than those of peace and commerce. We landed 
near the battery; a considerable extent of ground, 
at the point of the Delta fronting the bay, belong- 
ing to the corporation, and laid out with walks, 
which are shaded by trees, for the recreation of 
the citizens ; the battery itself is fifty yards from 
the shore, to which there is a bridge ; this is a 
circular fortification, enclosing a considerable area : 
and, as we are living in the u piping times of 
peace," it is fitted up for the display of fireworks, 
which are exhibited, during summer, several 
times a week, and is now designated by the 
name of the Castle Gardens. Our poor young 
invalid, Felix Hands, drooped at once on reach- 
ing a colder atmosphere : though the sea breezes 
were only invigorating to those in health, his 
delicate lungs could not bear the shock ; he had 
been confined to his berth several days, previously 
to our arrival at New York; it was with the 
utmost difficulty, and under the greatest prostra- 
tion of strength, that he left the vessel ; and it 
grieves me to pen the melancholy termination, 
that on reaching a boarding house, as he was laid 
on a bed, he simultaneously breathed his last. T. 
H. and I attended his funeral the following day, as 
a mark of our respect; we were deeply impressed 
with the melancholy occasion ; our acquaintance 
was short ; but a fortnight at sea, with a suffering 
companion, plants a stem of feeling and friendship 
which is not easily uprooted, 
i i 



242 LETTERS FROM 

Felix Hands is gone ! 

Most suddenly he fell, 
Relations there were none, 

To hear his funeral knell. 
The sun was sinking fast, 

The ship at anchor lay ; 
Before the eve had past, 

The spirit left its clay. 

I nursed him on the deep ; 

The ocean made us friends ; 
And friends 'tis well to keep, 

For friendship oft befriends. 
Then sigh for Felix Hands, 

Alas ! he is no more ; 
Death severed life's frail bands, 

He sank upon the shore. 

The first impressions, on entering New York, 
are highly favourable ; the buildings generally are 
good : as leading characteristics, I would say, 
there are no very shabby houses ; no artizans, 
distinguishable by dirty faces, or beggars ; but 
crowds of genteel persons ; as if England being 
the workshop, this was the country where the 
articles were consumed, and so the residents had 
no occasion to soil their hands. 

After a residence in the tropics, where few 
except negros, are to be seen in the streets ; it 
is very animating again to be where it is not 
ungenteel for pale faces to walk out ; the im- 
pressions are of again meeting one's countrymen, 
and of being one of the community. The Ameri- 
cans have much nationality in their appearance ; 



THE WEST INDIES. 243 

the men are rather tall, with penetrating, reflec- 
tive, pale, immoveable expression of countenance, 
accompanied with a very independent carriage; 
their dress is marked by an absence of articles 
whieh soil, such as shirt collars, light trowsers, 
or white cotton stockings ; the prevailing dress 
being a simple black stock, dark trowsers, and 
boots ; gloves are seldom worn : I could not but 
observe the general taste, on landing from the 
tropics, where the men dress in white " a capite 
ad calcem." The ladies, in person, are very thin 
and pallid, with waists imaginary; their walking is 
a great contrast to the gentlemen's, it being minc- 
ing and restrained, as if they were bound by wires; 
their present fashion of dress is most disfiguring ; 
they have gone into an opposite extreme to the 
full sleeves, which are now tight, with five or six 
large frills, or furbelows round each elbow; to walk 
behind a thin American lady, with this dress on, 
makes it difficult to restrain a smile, at its ex- 
traordinary inappropriateness for a spare person. 
Broad Way is the principal street ; it is several 
miles long, running from the Castle Gardens, or 
Battery Place, the whole length of the city ; 
omnibuses ply up and down, reminding one of 
home. Our quarters are at the American hotel, 
which stands about mid -way up it ; before us 
are the city hall, and post-offices, situated in 
an open space of ground, called the Park, ver- 
dant with grass and trees : on the city hall is 
a large bell, and a man is always stationed there, 



244 • LETTERS FROM 

I am told j to look out for fires. Two fires have 
already occurred since our arrival ; one was near 
enough for me to see the flames, and property to 
a large amount was destroyed. The city hall bell 
first tolled, and then all the " church going bells,'' 
or rather fire going, in the city : the city hall 
bell is struck in a different maimer for every ward, 
or district of the town ; the firemen, therefore, 
on counting the strokes, know at once where to 
go, and they go quickly ; a few minutes after the 
bell tolls, engines are rolling thither from all quar- 
ters. On our right hand is Astor's hotel, which 
erection cost one hundred thousand pounds ; the 
proprietor, a foreigner, I believe a German, is still 
living ; he came over to America a poor boy, and 
has realised great wealth ; Washington Irving's 
Astoria, developes the character of this suc- 
cessful man. The American Hotel is also upon 
a large scale, as hotels generally are here. The 
customers are of two classes, boarders, and 
tradesmen ; the former occupy a distinct part 
of the house, and take their meals at different 
hours, breakfasting at eight, and dining at four ; 
whilst the former breakfast at half past seven, 
and dine at three. The boarders are married 
couples, single ladies, and other characters, 
amongst whom are casual visitors like ourselves. 
We sit down to table, eat and drink, without being 
merry; approximate neighbours do not speak, 
without they are relations, or intimately ac- 
quainted ; no wine is upon the table, no malt 



THE WEST INDIES. 245 

liquor is handed ; but solids are, however, laid 
out in abundance, and of excellent quality ; the 
servants are sufficiently numerous to attend to the 
wants of each individual. There is a novelty in 
this independendence, which is attractive; this soli- 
tude amidst society, certainly affords an oppor- 
tunity to make a good dinner ; and where else could 
such a scene be witnessed ; between one and two 
hundred genteel people sitting at dinner, and not 
a single voice heard ? Is this one of the arrange- 
ments accruing from republican independence ? 
Changes are frequently carried beyond the line of 
usefulness ; the absence of wine at dinner, and 
of the decanters afterwards, are agreeable to those 
of temperate habits : each leaves the table as his 
meal is finished ; and those who are inclined to 
drink, must indulge their inclination at the bar ; 
but the monotony of silence, though impressive 
at first, inclines to the belief, there is a want of 
of confidence, and sociability in the party. Our 
friends, Kimball and Thome, are quartered at a 
Vegetable Hotel, in which neither meats nor 
stimulants are allowed, not even coffee; the diet 
consisting of bread, rice, milk, and such like. It 
has been opened to the public, in accordance with 
the views of Dr. Graham, who lectures upon 
diet, and advocates this system; here the gour- 
mands may reduce themselves, and get rid of 
hypo, (the term made use of for hypochondria- 
cism,) and the extra abstemious may follow out 
their favourite principle. I have no doubt many 



246 LETTERS FROM 

invalids will be benefitted, though it will never 
remove the " flesh pots" of America. 

One evening we met the New York Anti- 
Slavery Committee at their office in Nassau- 
street, and were introduced to A. and L. Tappan, 
the unflinching advocates of Negro Emancipation. 
The members present were interested with the 
information we were enabled to give in such a 
limited period of time, the usual routine of busi- 
ness having first to be gone through; it was 
cheering to become acquainted with philanthro- 
pists of such untiring zeal ; they can now meet in 
safety to discuss their prospects ; whereas only a few 
years have elapsed since their office was assailed. 
Perhaps thou wilt say, how can this be ? Cannot 
Americans do as they like? Have not the northern 
states emancipated their slaves, and secured their 
freedom ? They have, so far as regards personal 
freedom; but as regards the political rights 
of freemen, it is only nominal. In this city the 
Mayor and Corporation will not grant a license to 
a negro to drive a hackney coach, or a ticket to be 
a porter or carman. What is that freedom worth, 
where a man is not allowed to hire out a horse and 
cart? The system is to keep all methods of liveli- 
hood, which the whites are willing to do, in their 
own hands; on which account the blacks are liter- 
ally hewers of wood and drawers of water; those 
therefore who have families are withheld from ad- 
vancement, yes, from a creditable position in soci- 
ety ; — young colored people live more respectably, 



THE WEST INDIES. 247 

and have somewhat better opportunities ; they 
are waiters at hotels, and on steam-boats ; these 
situations being open to them. I am not sure 
they would be, if waiters were paid here as they 
are in England ; at present there are no vails to 
excite the cupidity of the whites ; the negros are 
therefore allowed to occupy these spheres of use- 
fulness. The disabilities under which the colored 
population labour in the free states, seem to act 
upon the negros as if an exterminating principle 
was at work. An individual of close investiga- 
tion informs me, that whilst in the slave breeding 
states the blacks increase in numbers, in the free 
states they diminish; and that Jersey, which 
manumitted her slaves, comparatively speaking 
only a few years back, has now but few negros 
within her boundary. These facts do not say 
much for the kindness of the christian republic. 

We have been kindly noticed by several English- 
men ; viz. — James Fuller, from Bristol, and 
F. Metford, son of J. M., of Bath ; we break- 
fasted with the latter at W. S.'s, who hospitably 
entertained us ; it gave us the opportunity of 
seeing the arrangement of a New York domicile. 
We sat down to our dejeuner in the basement 
which corresponds to an English cellar, as to its 
site, but not as to outfit ; the front basement is 
fitted up as a dining room, in which apartment all 
the meals are taken, the table remaining in 
"statu quo ;" and when one meal is concluded, 
the cloth is again laid for the next in turn. The 



248 



LETTERS FROM 



after basement is the kitchen; so that dishes are 
easily carried from one to the other. The up- 
stairs parlours, which are only divided by folding 
doors, are thus dapper for callers ; neither 
crumbs from the breakfast, or savour from the 
dinner table, can possibly annoy those who have 
not partaken ; and on this plan a house is always 
neat, even with few hands ; and servants being ex- 
pensive inmates in America, it is an object to limit 
their number. A very inexperienced girl ex- 
pects six dollars per month, which is upwards of 
fourteen pounds per annum. Rents have been ex- 
tremely high for some years. F. M. tells me he 
gives one hundred pounds per annum for his 
house, which is only two stories high. His 
parlour has two windows in front. Such a house 
in England might be had for thirty pounds ; this 
would not include the underground apartments ; 
and having a great predilection for the basement, 
(it is cool in summer, and warm in winter,) I 
must add twenty pounds for that ; even then, 
the rents in New York are at least double : for 
these reasons and others, I am satisfied that fami- 
lies, who come here without a certain prospect of 
an income, under the idea of economising, are dis- 
appointed in their " el dorado." The atmos- 
phere is very clear, and the days warm, but not 
oppressive to us, so recently from the tropics. 
The nights try me more ; the reason is, bed rooms 
at the hotels are mere closets, with a stump 
bedstead in each, comfortless in appearance. It 



THE WEST INDIES. 249 

is very provoking after taking one's meals in a 
noble saloon, and musing in a large news-room, 
to be penned up for the night in one of these 
close confined nooks. The American system is 
to accommodate many, rather than to indulge a 
few. The mind has one comfort, that no distinc- 
tion is made, all being served alike, and each one 
is treated as belonging to the family. On entering 
an hotel, an individual writes his name at the bar, 
in a day book kept for the purpose, against which 
is affixed the number of his bed room ; and as 
long as he remains, he has no occasion ever 
to ring a bell : the bells are rung for him. Half- 
an-hour before breakfast a domestic rings a bell 
along every passage, as notice to arise ; it rings 
again at the breakfast hour, and punctually for 
each meal; the last meal is at six p. m., and is 
called supper ; it is a union of the two previous 
ones, combining the tea and coffee of breakfast, 
with the cheese and meat of dinner : after which 
the boarder, at his own time, goes to his closet, 
without any necessity having been imposed upon 
him, of speaking a word for twelve hours. There 
is one little article (a spittoon) which we allot to 
corners, here has an admission into drawing, 
dining, and bed-rooms; and though very numer- 
ous, it is by no means thickly enough planted to 
save the carpets and floors. The above term at 
once explains the habit Americans have acquired; 
it is national, and really detracts from the purity of 
republican manners. I am inclined to think under 

K K 



250 LETTERS FROM 

monarchical institutions the force of public opi- 
nion would check it ; every effect has a cause, and 
the cause of this is chewing tobacco, the leaves of 
which are pressed as solid as a board, and sold 
under the name of cavendish ; a threepenny wedge 
of which will enable any novice to become an 
expert practioner.* Were it not for this, cleanli- 
ness would be more observable, and deserve the 
meed of praise From the absence of coal smoke, 
the city has a light airy appearance, the bricks never 
acquiring the dingy hue of Birmingham ; they are 
frequently made brighter in their appearance by 
paint, which together with the outside green blinds, 
give the houses a fresh and lively hue. 

A stranger cannot trace the effects of the 
destructive fire of 1835 ; it occurred at Christmas, 
and owing to the intense frost, the water froze in 
the hose, so that the engines were useless ; one 
million pounds sterling of property are estimated 
to have fallen a sacrifice. The streets are again 
rebuilt in a very substantial manner. Pearl-street 
is certainly one of the handsomest commercial 
throughfares in the world. The exchange in Wall- 
street is not yet finished, though considerable pro- 
gress has been made. The brothers Tappans fared 



* Two of my English acquaintances have described the im- 
pression this disgusting habit made on their minds in forcible 
similes ; one thought it was as if the whole nation was in a 
state of salivation ; the other, whilst sitting in a meeting for 
worship, thought it was raining outside; in reality it was 
raining tobacco juice within. 



THE WEST INDIES. 



251 



better than their neighbours in that fire, from a 
singular circumstance. On account of their being 
abolitionists, the New York Fire Insurance Com- 
panies would not take the risk of their property, 
deeming it unsafe from popular commotion; they 
had therefore to insure elsewhere, in Boston and 
Philadelphia. After the fire, the claims were so 
great upon the city companies, they could not 
meet the demands, and were broken up ; whilst 
the Tappans, having been sent to a distance, re- 
covered the amount of their insurance. 

The east river, which separates Long Island 
from the city of New York, is much narrower than 
the north river, being about a mile wide. On 
the shore opposite New York, Brooklyn is 
situated ; a large town, but with country advan- 
tages, many of the streets having avenues of 
trees, formed of the willow and locust. The 
heights of Brooklyn look down upon New York, 
and the residences are charming; many mer- 
chants reside there ; and from the convenience 
of the ferries, little time is wasted ; there are 
several of these, as that of South Brooklyn, 
Fulton, St. Catherine's, and others; whose steam- 
boats ply every five minutes all day, and great 
part of the night ; carts and carriages drive on to 
them. The tides here cause no inconvenience ; 
the rise and fall of water is only a few feet ; and 
to meet this, there are floating gangways ; one end 
is hinged to the shore, and the other is lowered 
and raised to the height of the boat by a wheel, 



252 LETTERS FROM 

These low tides are a great advantage to the scenery 
around New York ; for even at the Castle Gardens, 
at low water there is only a few feet of bare shore, so 
that the prospect is never sullied by mud. There 
are ferries also across the north river to Jersey 
city, Weehawken, and Hoboken. At Hoboken 
are the Elysian Fields, whose rural walks invite 
the field-loving cit; if not " rus in urbe," it is 
rusjuxta urbem, and a delightful place wherein to 
escape from town murmurs. Besides these attrac- 
tions, near at hand there are steam boats morning 
and evening up the Hudson to Albany and Troy, 
for those who are anxious to see the "far west." 
These river boats are of a very different mould to 
our snug sea boats ; some of them have four large 
chimneys, and the boilers and machinery being 
upon the deck, the engine beams are much ele- 
vated, one on each side of the boat, each boat 
having two engines. The accommodation for 
passengers is extensive, consisting of the dining 
saloon, beneath the main deck ; this main deck 
has a flat roof, and this flat roof is another deck, 
called the hurricane, and is covered with an 
awning. 

The all engrossing subject of conversation is 
the panic, and the suspension of specie payments, 
which took place nearly a month since, with all 
the city banks ; it is said they would all have 
been drained of specie in one or two more days, 
if they had not resisted the demand ; this, in 
England, would be called a bankruptcy j here it 



THE WEST INDIES. 253 

is the independent cleverness of bankers, taking 
care of their gold, or rather of that which belongs 
to other persons ; consequently, bankers' paper 
is at a discount, and gold at a premium ; a 
sovereign, which in general is not worth more 
than four dollars eighty cents, or thereabouts, is 
now worth five dollars and a half. The mer- 
chants are failing on all hands ; there were thirty 
stopt in this city on one day, and I shall send for- 
ward with this a list of three hundred names, who 
in a few weeks, have exchanged affluence for po- 
verty; the suddenness of the event is as complete as 
its extent ; some who had their carriages a month 
ago, are now within the pinching gripe of want. 

W. N and family, who were on board the 

Oscar, from St. Thomas' to Jamaica, and again of 
our party from Jamaica here, considered himself a 
wealthy man, having built his residence at New 
York, which, with the plot, cost some thousands 
of pounds : he had been absent travelling, to see 
his relations, for several months, and knew no- 
thing of the panic till the pilot came on board ; 
even then he had little fear, but on stepping 
ashore, he found N brothers, had stopt pay- 
ment : what a humiliation, what a draw back to 
the joy of returning home, which he had been 
fondly anticipating. A stranger on arriving, is 
not at first aware of the state of affairs ; the 
populace are peaceable, the shops are open, and 
in the midst of confusion, there is abundance ; he 
could not tell, from the appearance of New York, 



254 LETTERS FROM 

that anything was wrong ; one reason is, there are 
no bankrupt laws; no names are published, no com- 
missions opened, no stores closed ; parties stopping 
payment, if they can show fair accounts, and forth- 
coming assets, are allowed by their creditors to 
conduct the business on their behalf, and eventually 
to resume it ; if not, they wind it up themselves : 
what would English attorneys say to this method ? 
The Americans, from the extent of their com- 
merce, think, if they lead the way, Europe must 
follow ; and, therefore, predict that the Bank 
of England will suspend ; perhaps the Bank may 
be of the same opinion as Sir Francis Head ; 
who in one of his speeches said, " the first prin- 
ciple of monarchy is honour. " This convulsion 
is supposed to have been occasioned by over- 
trading, and by the late President, General Jack- 
son's overthrow of the United States' Bank ; its 
charter, which expired in 1834, was not renewed ; 
consequently its branches, established in each 
State, were discontinued, and there has been no 
proper medium of exchange between the different 
States since ; the government continue the war 
against paper money, and will only receive specie 
for dues ; it is, therefore, a contest betwixt the 
government and the commercial paper money 
loving community : time will show which is to be 
the victor. 

T. Harvey has concluded to return to Eng- 
land on the eighth inst., and will be the bearer of 
this letter : I intend staying a few months in the 



THE WEST INDIES. 255 

States ; my next companion, for a time, will be 

J. F. P , the Jamaica resident, mentioned 

before; from the circumstance of my going 
hand in hand with a coffee planter, I think I 
shall have the credit of having made at least one 
convert, to my abolition principles. I believe so 
small an harvest would not meet the views of my 
friend Joseph Sturge, and am inclined to think, 
he will not be satisfied till he has converted two 
thirds of the British nation, and through them, a 
majority of the Island legislatures. I hope all his 
undertakings will end as prosperously as our 
visit ; it having now terminated, we feel very 
thankful for the merciful preservation extended 
to us by a kind and benign Providence : " The 
Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many 
waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea/' 
I remain, 

Thy very affectionate son, 

William Lloyd. 



B. Hudson, Printer, Birmingham. 



APPENDIX 



BARBADOES JAIL. 



O ! should you ever see Barbadoes Jail, 

Your eyes in truth shall make your hearts to quail, 

At misery which tyranny must cause, 

When it can make its own vindictive laws. 

How well I recollect the horrid den, 

In which at sun-set they confined the men ; 

The room quite small, the number several score, 

And yet no limit, there might still be more. 

This dank apartment had a bed of stone, 

Built round against the wall, and that alone, 

For them to sit or lie on in the night, 

Till roused for labour at the morning light ; 

No stool, no board, I hint not at a bed, 

On which each might recline his drooping head : 

The place was nothing better than a stye ; 

And in this piggery poor negros lie. 

By day, with hammers soft* they break hard stones, 

Then pass the night in languishing and groans ; 

Can fancy picture any harder lot ? 

Than such exposure, where the sun's so hot ; 

* See Page 14. 
L L 



258 APPENDIX, 

Breaking large stones, as on the ground they lie, 1 
And then at night confined within that stye ; > 

If this is life, 'tis better far to die : J 

The bruised and broken also leave the mill, 
"Which by revolving, works the planter's will ! 
Yes, that shin breaking and revolving wheel, 
Brings hourly anguish in its daily reel ; 
To see poor women's arms across a bar, 
. And men above them, higher perched by far, 
Forcing their weight upon the women's wrists, 
And pressing down with heavy grasping fists ; 
To see each thus suspended by one arm, 
Awakens painful feelings of alarm. 
Two women having lost the proper tread 
The wheel required, as round and round it sped ; 
Suspended by the elbows they were hung, 
And O ! the anguish which from them was wrung ; 
The driver's cow-skin now twists round their legs, 
Whilst each with plaintive voice for mercy begs ; 
" Massa, me massa, O sweet massa, me, 
Upon the step again will try to be ;" 
Their efforts fail; now hear their piercing groans ; 
Each step which follows step, skins their shin bones ; 
From depths of misery the sighs are deep, 
And sad the tears when the oppressed weep. 
To see that wheel stained round with human blood, 
Whilst driver with his cat behind them stood, 
Was quite enough to harrow Nero's heart, 
And make him from his cruelty depart ; 
But mercy was not there, round the wheel goes, 



APPENDIX. 259 

And from each bruised shin the fresh blood flows. 

Now when the minute glass had run its spell, 

Which was ten minutes, then the women fell ; 

Their wrists being loosed, they dropt like leaden shot, 

And in their fainting anguish cared not 

For driver's call. O ! no, they were too faint ; 

All language fails such dreadful scenes to paint. 

The agony they at that hour endured, 

Surely from hearts of flesh would have insured 

Christian compassion ; and a slight attempt 

To lessen in my mind, anger, contempt : 

Would such had been ! for at that direful hour 

Pale Buckrah's breast was sealed 'gainst pity's power. 

Alas ! poor negros whether ill or well, 

Day after day you pace each daily spell ; 

And there are several of ten minutes length, 

Although the first should quite exhaust your strength : 

It is no matter, you must take your turn, 

And broken shins and bruised elbows earn. 

Enough ! enough ! let others tell the rest ; 

That which I've penn'd is not from fiction drest. 



260 APPENDIX. 

THE RIVER DEMERARA. 

Guiana's stream, what can be said of thee ? 

Thou art not in thy waters bright and pure ; 
But round thy borders there is seen to be 

A rank fertility, which could allure 
Pale Buckrah, with his passions from afar ; 

Round thee he settled, bought poor negro slaves, 
He made them work, he lashed them to his car, 

He whipt their flesh, he pressed them to their graves. 
That he might cultivate the luscious cane ; — 
Most fearlessly he lavished tears and pain. 

Foul Avarice ! how thou dost mar the mind i 

Below the ignoble brute thou sinkest man ; 
Man with his boasted reason falls behind, — 

And through the fleeting days of his short span, 
With cruelty he seeks for sordid wealth ; 

From victims bleeding, 'tis the price of blood ; 
Their life, their happiness, their welfare, health, 

Their temporal and their eternal good, 
Appear as nothing in his jaundiced eye ; 
As brutes they work, and worse than brutes they die. 

And by what right is man a despot made ? 

The white to tyrannise, t'enslave the black ? 
Is he to bleed, because a darker shade 

Has been impressed upon his tawny back ? 
And here the negro ought himself be chief, 

His constitution is the fittest here ; 
From sol's proud orb he needs but slight relief; 

That orb which in the tropics bright and clear, 
Darts a bright beam most difficult to paint, 
Yet one that makes the white man sick and faint 



APPENDIX. 261 

Stabroek ! now George Town ! doubtless there is much 

Within, around thee, to admire, and praise, 
A monument of the industrious Dutch, 

O'er rank alluvial soil a town to raise ; 
But was it so ? O ! that it had so been !— 

Poor negros say, " that you were not the means, — 
You were task masters ; we were to be seen 

The instruments whence so much richness teems ;" 

When I behold the work which has been done, 
I fear the lash, and threats, the conquest won. 

You are a hardy race, I've watched you toil, 

With limbs all bare, 'neath a meridian sun, 
And have admired your efforts on that soil, 

How you would not oppressive labour shun ; 
Daily successive hours you stand exposed 

To heat, which fevers and destroys white man : 
Had I not seen, I could not have supposed 

There had been those upon this earth who can 
Endure to labour, 'neath such burning rays, 
Year after year, aye, many thousand days. 

'Tis wonderful to think that man should be, 

To any thing which breathes the vital air, 
The instrument of savage cruelty ; 

And that so weak a being, dares to dare 
The just displeasure of the Omnipotent ; 

O ! how can Mercy, though so sparing, spare 
Him who inflicts deep woe to such extent ? 

Who for the afflicted feels no Christian care, 
But having steeled his heart to Mercy's law, 
Might makes his right, a right without a flaw. 



262 APPENDIX, 

JAMAICA, HAYTI, AND THE INDIANS, 



Farewell Jamaica ! land of springs farewell ! 

A gentle breeze now wafts thee from my sight ; 
Thy woes, thy griefs, destroyed that pleasing spell, 

Which else had entertained me day and night. 
Mine was a short, mere temporary, stay, 

Barely two months winged their excursive flight, 
Through week, through night, through hour, and through 
the day, 

Whilst I remained amidst thy flowerets bright ; 
And yet enough to satisfy my mind, 
Without heart-breaking,— -now thou'rt left behind. 

Around there is a soft and radiant light, 

O'er land of spices, and o'er land of sun ; 
Now St. Domingo lies upon our right, 

And by thy rock Navarez, we have run. 
It is not difficult, where skies are mild ; 

'Tis easy with a favouring breeze to shun 
Rocks, which on this, or on that side are piled, 

Frowning in russet grey or deeper dun. 
Antillean waters, ye are sweet as canes, 
Save now and then when swept by hurricanes. 

Jamaica's peaks, St. Catherine's, and Blue, 

Shall never more attract my wandering eye ; 
I have been one of your admirers true, 

Gazing upon your altitude so high : 
Thousands of feet, and yet so bright and clear, 

Coffee and many goodly fruits grow nigh, 
Those lofty summits, which in Europe dear, 

Would seldom have around a clear blue sky ; 
But be enveloped in snow, mist and storm, 
O'erhung by darkness, e'en in vernal morn. 



APPENDIX. 263 

Cape Tiburon of Hayti, now looks down 

Upon the circling waters which we press ; 
It has a noble aspect in its frown, 

And is not insignificant, or less, 
Than Yallah's hill, peering near Morant Bay ; 

Whites do not sully now thy native dress 
Of wild flowers, flourishing in noon-tide ray ; 

Their power is gone, on which they laid such stress. 
Tyrants they were, the Blacks have now the start 
Of those who would inflict their cruel smart. 

But where are ye ? poor Indians you are gone, 

You've passed away from your luxuriant shades ; 
Yon sun which bright upon the Christians shone, 

No more can gladden you, amidst your glades. 
Millions and millions perished in the mines ; 

The mind with pain through your sad history wades : 
That sun as then upon each mountain shines ; 

But you have left your tyrants cruel aids. 
You are but seen in history, known in ink ; 
And thus the human chain has lost a link.* 



* St. Domingo or Hayti at the time of its discovery in 1492, is stated to 
have had a population of two million Indians; and in 1545, not more than 
one hundred and fifty were alive. These red men were just, generous, and 
humane, and a different race from the Caribs of the Windward Islands. 



B. Hudson, Printer, Birmingham. 



